Preschoolers Were Mistakenly Served Pine-Sol Instead Of Apple Juice

Source: Istvan Pinter / EyeEm / Getty

Preschool Students Accidentally Given Pine-Sol To Drink

According to officials, three children accidentally took sips of the household cleaner Pine-Sol after a classroom assistant at their Honolulu preschool mistook the liquid for apple juice.

The Honolulu Emergency Services Department has said that the paramedics evaluated three young girls at the Kilohana United Methodist Church Preschool on Tuesday morning, and fortunately, they found no signs trauma or sickness following the unfortunate mistake.

The children did not end up being taken to the hospital. Following the mishap, the state Department of Health inspected the preschool.

The inspection report says the assistant was preparing crackers and juice for the children. The classroom’s teacher is the one who smelled that the liquid most definitely wasn’t apple juice, which is when she stopped the rest of the classroom’s students from drinking it.

“Only sips were taken before the lead teacher realized the liquid was not apple juice,” the preschool said, according to reports from HawaiiNewsNow. “The staff responded immediately by calling EMS and police, the children’s parents were immediately notified as well.”

The report also notes that the cleaner was still in its original container and properly labeled, so it’s not clear how the assistant mistook the liquid for apple juice.

A classroom assistant at Kilohana United Methodist Church Preschool in Honolulu mistook the cleaning fluid for juice on November 27 “because it has the same color,” according to a Hawaii health department inspection report.

The preschool has now announced that it will be evaluating its process for obtaining snacks and refreshments in an effort to prevent this from ever happening again.