Three children ingested Pine-Sol at an East Honolulu preschool after a teacher’s assistant mistook the cleaning liquid for apple juice. According to a November 30th Hawaii News Now report, the three young girls, aged four and five, took several sips of Pine-Sol before their teacher realized the mistake.
The Hawaii Health Department investigation found that a teacher’s assistant at Kilohana United Methodist Church Preschool was preparing snacks on the morning of November 27th when she accidentally served Pine-Sol instead of apple juice. According to the investigation per Hawaii News Now, the assistant “saw the yellow/brown colored liquid container on a clean-up cart in the kitchen and returned to the classroom.”
The Health Department noted in its report that the Pine-Sol container was properly labeled and in its original container. Furthermore, there were no other snack items on the kitchen’s clean-up cart.
Paramedics were promptly called to the scene. Luckily, none of the girls showed signs of sickness or trauma, and were therefore not taken to the hospital. Parents were notified shortly after the incident.
Many are wondering how the teacher’s assistant didn’t notice the Pine-Sol smell as she poured the liquid into the kids’ cups. Pine-Sol is known for its fresh and clean scent — a scent that is very much unlike that of apple juice.
you can smell pine-sol from two years away. anuh accident that https://t.co/4Udwohe5HD
— Emma (@pixie_purfect) December 3, 2018
How do accidentally mistake pine-sol for apple juice https://t.co/icE1G8TL1v
— LoyaltyIS Evrything™ (@Roderick_Dinero) December 3, 2018
“Only sips were taken before the lead teacher realized the liquid was not apple juice,” the preschool said in a statement to Hawaii News Now. “The staff responded immediately by calling EMS and police. The children’s parents were immediately notified as well.”
The preschool also verified that teachers and higher-ups will be “scrutinizing the process of obtaining snacks and refreshments to rule out the smallest possibility of an occurrence like this from happening again.”
East Oahu preschool students mistakenly served Pine-Sol https://t.co/98A2LH6hld pic.twitter.com/9BQ3zlaV19
— KHON2 News (@KHONnews) December 1, 2018
The Health Department noted that after its inspection, they concluded that cleaning supplies and food supplies were kept separated within the preschool’s cafeteria. So, how this mixup happened is still unclear.
According to local station KHON, the assistant no longer works at the school.
Let’s hope this was just a simple accident and no ill will was at play.
