Juice may have been bought online or in Mexico

Tahitian Noni is touted as a natural health product

Health authorities have been investigating a Mexican fruit juice which may have been responsible for the death of a 40-year-old Granada man. The victim is reported to have taken the drink on previous occasions but last week it appears to have caused an immediate allergic reaction.
A sample of the drink was sent to the Toxicology Institute for analysis. It was labelled as Tahitian Noni, made from the fruit also known as Indian or Beach mulberry, which grows as a small shrub or tree and is spread extensively throughout the Pacific Islands. Investigators are uncertain whether the victim bought the product on the internet or during a recent visit to Mexico.
The Junta de Andalucía’s health department issued an alert about the drink which, according to its label, was manufactured in the US and imported to Mexico by a company called Morinda International. They said the batch number and sell-by date were illegible, but added that it was “improbable” that the problem was widespread. The Safety and Nutrition Agency, AESAN, called for the product to be located and immobilised.
The victim, who lived in Ogíjares, 15 kilometres outside the city of Granada, is reported to have suffered double vision and muscular paralysis almost immediately after drinking the juice at breakfast time on Sunday, January 27. His wife called the emergency services but they were unable to save his life.
A representative of the distributor in Europe was quoted as describing the fruit juice as, “totally safe” for human consumption, adding it had passed all necessary controls before going on sale to the public. Its US producer confirmed that the drink had been approved by the European Food Safety Authority in 2003.

High cocaine levels detected in killer juice sample

Tests carried out at the National Toxicology Institute have confirmed that very high levels of cocaine were detected in samples of a tropical juice that killed a 40 year old man in Ogíjares (Granada) on the 30th January since when no further cases have been reported.

Regional Health minister Mará Jesús Montero also confirmed that traces of the same drug were found during the autopsy carried out on the victim.

The public was once again warned not to consume the product - 'Tahitian Noni' tropical fruit juice, one litre glass bottle format, manufactured by the Morinda company and imported from Mexico - and asked to hand over any samples to provincial Health authorities for analysis.

Health authorities in Andalucía have issued an alert after two members of a family from Sevilla fell ill, one of whom has since died, after consuming a tropical fruit juice.

The product is sold in a one litre glass bottle and is labelled 'Jugo de Noni TAHITIAN NONI'.

Other information appearing on the label reveals that it was manufactured in the USA and exported by a Mexican distributor: 'Hecho en E.U.A. por Morinda, Inc. Importado por: Morinda Internacional México, S de R.L.R.F.C.: MIM990610 1N2. Av. Paseo de la Reforma 265 P.C.Col Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, D.F.C.P. 06500. n-011824-1 010904-MX 2002 Morinda, Inc.'

Regrettably the batch number and expiry date stamps are illegible on the only available sample.

Results of toxicology tests will confirm whether the victim's death was caused by the juice though the public is being warned to refrain from consuming this product and any others that may be incorrectly labelled, especially if any of the following essential information is missing - manufacturer's name and address, product description, batch number, or best before date.

Regards