California, United States

A Hollister family warns parents to be careful after a restaurant in California mistakenly served wine to their two-year-old child, landing her in the emergency room due to dangerously high blood alcohol levels. 

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The family visited Fujiyama, a Japanese restaurant in Salinas, California for a large dinner party. The parents had ordered apple juice for their daughter. They discovered she had been served alcohol when she became wobbly.

The drink was served in a normal juice cup with a lid. The parents noticed the toddler started showing signs of intoxication after drinking it and became alarmed. Upon smelling the drink, they realised it was wine that their daughter had been drinking.

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“She was swaying, she was falling over, she was leaning on walls, she couldn’t hold her head up, she was slurring her words,” Noemi Valencia, the mother, told KSBW 8.

The child was rushed to the emergency room, where they spent the night. The blood test showed their daughter had a 0.12% alcohol level in her system.

The manager of the restaurant revealed their mistake to KSBW 8. The wine had been labelled wrongly as 'apple juice'. The server served the wine to the child, thinking it was the right drink.

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“Take proper precautions and how you store things or label things properly so that this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Valencia said, hoping the restaurant learns from their mistake.

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According to KSBW 8, a police report was filed against the restaurant on August 17 and Salinas police are looking into the incident.

In a statement, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said, “The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is aware of the reports and is working with local authorities to investigate.”

Thankfully for the parents, their little girl has fully recovered and sobered up. They are glad that the situation was not worse.

“Parents: taste what’s served to your kids,” they said, urging other parents to remain cautious of what is served to their children.

(with inputs from agencies)