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May 5, 2008 3:50 pm US/Pacific
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Man Sickened By Tainted Gatorade G2 Drink
RIVERSIDE
A 50-year-old Riverside man fell ill Saturday after drinking a small amount of Gatorade G2 Fruit Punch energy drink that he purchased Friday, May 2, from a Vons supermarket in Riverside. Investigators believe someone may have tampered with the bottle.
As a reminder, police caution the public not to drink or eat from any container that is missing a tamper proof seal.
"It may be an isolated incident, but we want to be on the safe side," Riverside police spokesman Steven Frasher said Sunday.
The man reportedly purchased a six-pack of G2 fruit punch -- a new, lower calorie product from the Gatorade line that comes in plastic bottles -- from the Vons supermarket at La Sierra and Magnolia Friday.
On Saturday he drank from one of the bottles, noticed the taste was not right and became ill a short time later, Frasher said.
The man reported a burning sensation on his tongue, intense thirst, sweating and accelerated heart rate, Frasher said.
A neighbor took the man to Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center, where he was treated and released, he said.
As a precaution, the Gatorade G2 fruit punch product was removed from the shelves at that particular Vons, Frasher said.
Vons, a division of Safeway Inc., is cooperating with the investigation, Frasher said.
Gatorade and similar products have a consumer safety seal that should be intact when purchased.
"The biggest thing we want to communicate is there seems to be some product tampering at that location," Frasher said. "We just want to get the word out to people who purchased the same product at the same location."
Officers asked anyone with information about the incident to call Riverside police at (951) 353-7100.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)