Some lollies which were handed out at Auckland City Mission turned out to be meth. Photo: Supplied / Sarita Kaukau
A second charity worker has been taken to hospital after tasting methamphetamine disguised as a Rinda-brand pineapple lolly.
Ronald McDonald House in Auckland said they had inadvertently received them in a food parcel from the Auckland City Mission on Tuesday.
The food parcels were given to two families being housed by the charity while their children are sick in hospital.
Ronald McDonald House Charities chief executive Wayne Howett said neither of the families had one, but a staff member did.
"They didn't eat it, just spat it out, but that was enough for that staff member to have some adverse effects," he said.
He said the staff member had a racing heart then went to hospital for treatment.
"They received some medication on the day and they're out. We're just making sure that they stay at home - rest and recovery - but they're in good spirits and in good condition."
The charity had handed one package with three to five lollies in it to police via Auckland Hospital.
A second package had been thrown away by a family.
In total, more than 400 families may have received bricks of methamphetamine disguised as lollies in their food parcels, Auckland City Mission says.
The 'lollies' were donated to the Mission and then mistakenly distributed in 428 food parcels earlier this month. Auckland City missioner Helen Robinson told Checkpoint.
Claims had since emerged that someone had tried to sell one of the lollies - labelled as pineapple-flavoured Rinda sweets - online.
"[It's] distressing ... that's probably the most polite word I can use," Robinson said.
Police had assured her they were following up on the claims, she said.
Food parcels containing the meth lollies had been distributed through the mission's Boston Road site to families in the Auckland region, Robinson said.
Several had been recovered from South and West Auckland overnight.
Mission staff had attempted to contact all 428 families who had received the parcels, but had only managed so far to speak to 100 of those, she said.
That was due to the fact that some recipients did not have cellphones or email addresses, or had given different contact details when they collected their parcels.
Of those 100, 16 families had confirmed that they had received the sweets in their food parcels, she said.
"We're still unsure just how much is in circulation or in fact if there are other lollies circulating from another source too."
Other unknowns included how many lollies had come into the mission's possession, and exactly how many had been distributed.
Police said they had now recovered 31 blocks of meth disguised as branded lollies, and were in the process of recovering another on Thursday afternoon, which would bring the total to 32.
Detective inspector Glenn Baldwin said initial inquiries suggested six to eight lollies had already been disposed of by families who received the parcels, he said.
"Based off this information it would suggest that up to 40 lollies have been accounted for overall," he said.
As well as the Ronald McDonald House, three other people have been hospitalised after consuming the "lollies", two of them children, and police earlier said another child was taken for precautionary medical checks after tasting the candy.
Robinson said the confectionery had been received at the mission's Boston Road site in a big bag.
That was then opened and poured in a large container of lollies.
In response to questions about whether food donations could be traced to a particular donor, she said the mission asked for the name and contact details of each donor so it could thank them, but it was not a requirement to provide it.
"It would be very common for people to say 'no no I don't need anything' [in terms of acknowledgement]."
The mission was looking to reopen on Monday, but "that is something that we are having to assess day by day", Robinson said.
"What I'm really, really conscious of is that one in five New Zealanders today don't have enough money for food, and the reality is that people rely on us and other very good organisations to distribute that food."
She asked for anyone who accessed food from the Boston Road centre between 1-13 July to come forward.
