SIMI VALLEY : Aide Pulls Complaint of Finding Blade in Soda

A Simi Valley nurse’s aide who reported finding an X-Acto-type knife blade in a can of Vons soda last week has withdrawn the complaint, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

During questioning earlier this week by FDA investigators, Alina Hernandez, 23, retracted the complaint of product tampering that she had lodged last week with the Simi Valley police.

“When we tried following up, she retracted her statement, and there was no follow-up,” said an FDA spokeswoman, who added that the federal agency will not investigate the report any further. The spokeswoman, who did not give her name, declined further comment.

Hernandez could not be reached Friday afternoon for comment.

News that Hernandez withdrew her tampering complaint followed revelations that dozens of reports of syringes and other foreign objects found in cans of Pepsi were actually hoaxes.

Simi Valley Lt. Mark Layhew, who had forwarded Hernandez’s complaint, the soda can and the knife blade allegedly found in it to the FDA for analysis, said of Hernandez’s retraction, “That’s news to us.

“I’m going to have to determine what their investigation covered first, to assess what course of action we may be taking,” Layhew said. “We’ll be delving into it more.”

Hernandez told police she had poured half a can of Vons Caffeine Free Diet Root Beer into a glass for herself and half for a co-worker during lunch break at the Sisters of Notre Dame nursing home for nuns in Thousand Oaks.

Hernandez said that when she heard a rattle inside the can, she opened it with a can opener and found the knife blade inside.