Mass. Woman Charged with Tampering with Children's Vitamins

A Woburn, Mass. woman was charged this week in federal court with one count of tampering with a consumer product with intent to cause serious injury to a business, after she allegedly filled children's Flintstones vitamins bottles with candy and then returned them to the area stores where she bought them.

According to press reports, Denise Shannon, 38, could spend up to three years in prison and pay a $250,000 fine if she's found guilty.

Shannon allegedly purchased the vitamins on eight to 10 occasions between October 2004 and September 2005 from Target, Star Market, Shaw's, Brooks Pharmacy, CVS Pharmacy, and DeMoulas Market Basket locations, took the items home and filled them with gumballs, Red Hots, jelly beans, and M&Ms, re-sealed the boxes, and took them back to the stores for refunds on her credit card. According to investigators, she was upset about having bought Flintstones vitamins that had been tampered with in 2004.

There was no evidence that youngsters became ill from the adulterated products, a spokeswoman for the U.S. District Attorney's office in Boston said.

The Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations investigated the case.
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