A family’s visit to a California restaurant ended in a trip to the emergency room when their toddler was mistakenly served cooking wine by the staff.
According to the local outlet KSBW 8, Noemi Valencia and her partner were with their 2-year-old daughter at the Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant in Salinas on Aug. 17, when they noticed that the youngster was experiencing signs of intoxication.
“She was swaying, she was falling over, she was leaning on walls, she couldn’t hold her head up, she was slurring her words,” Valencia explained of her daughter, which prompted immediate concern.
A stock image of an emergency room.
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The parents investigated their toddler’s cup and discovered that the beverage she was given and told was apple juice was, in actuality, cooking wine. Restaurant staff told the couple that the alcoholic beverage had been mislabeled as apple juice by a staffer, according to the publication.
The concerned parents quickly rushed their child to Salinas Valley ER, where they spent the night. A blood test revealed that the child had a blood alcohol content of .12, which is twice the legal limit for a consenting adult.
“We have no comment at this moment,” a restaurant staffer tells PEOPLE. “We just want to wait for the police department results.”
A stock image of a toddler drinking from a glass.
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The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said in a statement to PEOPLE that they are aware of the situation and an investigation is currently underway, although no charges have been made as of the time of writing.
Salinas Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The child has since sobered up and recovered, but Valencia is urging other parents to be more diligent about checking what their young ones are served at restaurants.
“Take proper precautions and how you store things or label things properly so that this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” she said as a message to restaurant owners, per KSBW 8, adding, “Parents: taste what’s served to your kids.”
