Alarming discovery inside 'funny tasting' lollies donated to charity

A charity working with homeless people has unknowingly distributed lollies which have been found to contain a "potentially lethal amount" of the drug methamphetamine. The sweets were reportedly distributed in New Zealand in food parcels, with eight families including a child, said to be affected so far.

The Rinda brand pineapple lollies were in sealed, retail-sized packages, and had been donated to Auckland City Mission by a member of the public. In a statement, the charity said it received an "alert of concern" on Tuesday afternoon from a food parcel recipient who said they had "funny tasting" lollies, the publication reported.

Auckland City Mission said it had been working with the NZ Drug Foundation and New Zealand Police in response to the "deeply concerning incident". New Zealand's police have reportedly opened a criminal investigation.

'At least three people' receiving medical care

According to the New Zealand Herald, at least three people have so far needed medical attention. "Police are also aware of two young people who have been taken to hospital after tasting the lolly and spitting it out," Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said.

Drug Foundation Executive Director Sarah Helm said the lolly contained approximately 3g of methamphetamine. The lollies allegedly have a high street value of NZ$1,000 (A$916) per lolly.

Contaminated pineapple lollies could be deadly, expert says

"A common dose to swallow is between 10-25mg, so this contaminated lolly contained up to 300 doses,” she said. "Swallowing that much methamphetamine is extremely dangerous and could result in death."

"We don’t know how widespread these contaminated lollies are, so we recommend not eating any Rinda brand pineapple lollies if you have them".

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Auckland City Mission has reportedly contacted up to 400 people to track down parcels that could contain the lollies as a police investigation continues. The NZ Drug Foundation is now warning people not to consume Rinda brand pineapple lollies.

Symptoms might include:

• Chest pain

• A racing heart

• Seizures

• Hyperthermia

• Delirium

• Loss of consciousness

Homelessness in Australia on the rise

In Australia, a worsening housing crisis and skyrocketing rent has resulted in higher-than-ever rates of homelessness across the country.

In NSW, the number of people sleeping rough has increased by 55 per cent since 2020. NSW homelessness street count numbers showed there were now more than 2,000 people sleeping rough.

While Aussie charities are reporting unprecedented demand for food and homelessness services as the cost-of-living crisis forces people to sleep in tents and their cars.

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