Herbicides in Syringes Found at Markets : Threats Aimed at Alpha Beta, but No Contaminated Food Discovered

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department crime lab announced Tuesday that a mixture of two commercially produced herbicides were found in four syringes discovered in Alpha Beta markets, after anonymous letters threatening to contaminate food were delivered to the local news media.

Meanwhile, management and labor union sources reported some new progress during secret talks this week to end the 16-day-old strike/lockout at Alpha Beta and six other supermarket chains in Southern California.

Alpha Beta pulled meat and produce from its shelves in response to the letters on Monday, but it found no evidence of contamination. There were no reported illnesses linked to food from the stores.

‘Generally Not Fatal’

Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Willie Miller said ingestion of the mixture of the two herbicides--2,4-D and mecoprop--”is generally not fatal to a healthy person.”

“However, it can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and possible heart palpitations,” she said.

Miller said the examination of syringes had been conducted in conjunction with the FBI. She said the Sheriff’s Department investigation of the incident will continue.

Richard T. Bretzing, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said the bureau’s investigation was prompted by letters that arrived Monday at radio station KFWB and television station KABC. The letters said food had been contaminated by injection of insecticides into products at 42 Alpha Beta stores. The letters said the food had been injected with syringes by “a team of angry people.”

“This will continue until the current labor dispute is over,” the letter warned.

The authors of the unsigned letters said, however, that the amount of insecticide injected “is not intended to cause any more than vomiting and stomach cramps.”

Locations Cited

The letter said emptied syringes could be found at six Alpha Beta stores--two in Covina and one each in West Covina, Alhambra, Carson and La Puente. The syringes were recovered by police.

Bill Wade, a spokesman for Alpha Beta, said meat roasts, cheese and fruit had been removed from shelves in the six stores pending inspection, because the letters identified those products as contaminated. He said no evidence of product contamination had been found.

Alpha Beta has increased surveillance and security at all of its 196 Southern California stores, Wade said. However, he said, no random checks of products had been made at any stores, except the six where the syringes were found.

The Teamsters, representing 12,000 drivers, warehouse personnel and office workers, and the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 10,000 meat cutters and meat wrappers, issued a joint statement condemning the food contamination threat.

‘Pains to Avoid Them’

“The public should know that labor does not condone any of these incidents. In fact, it goes to pains to avoid them,” the statement said.

However, the statement added, “the refusal by the food industry to accept proposals for arbitration of the current labor dispute might be seen as leading not only to incidents of this type but also incidents of violence which have occurred sporadically.” There have been a series of skirmishes during the strike/lockout involving nearly 1,000 stores operated by Albertson’s, Alpha Beta, Hughes, Lucky, Ralphs, Safeway and Vons. One Alpha Beta trucker driving a load of goods in Orange County was shot in the arm last week. Drivers attempting to cross union picket lines have brandished guns. Tires have been slashed. More than 40 people have been arrested and a dozen injured during the strike.

On the negotiating front, a management source reported Tuesday that “meaningful, productive progress was made for the first time” in a secret bargaining session Monday between Teamsters officials and negotiators for the supermarket chains.

A Teamsters source agreed that progress was made at the Monday session but was less optimistic about a swift resolution of the dispute.

“We’re a long way off. We’ve still got some blockbuster issues” to resolve, the Teamsters source said. Still, he added, “sometimes things can come together fast if the attitudes are right.”

A news blackout has been imposed on the talks, and the sources on both sides agreed to discuss the session only on the grounds that they not be identified.

Both sides have been far apart on several major issues, primarily on demands by management to dramatically change work rules and create new, lower-paid job classifications.

The Food Employers Council, which represents the seven chains involved in the dispute, said the changes are needed if the stores are to remain profitable. The Teamsters have objected to the changes, saying they threaten the jobs of their members.

No formal announcement was made Tuesday, but indications were that another negotiating session with the Teamsters would be held today.

There was no indication, however, whether further talks involving the United Food and Commercial Workers have been scheduled.