“Cannabis” cola sweets mystery unsolved, no-one to face charges

Mystery continues to surround the origin of the “cannabis” cola sweets eaten by children in the east of the country, which left two of them in hospital.

The public prosecution department said on Tuesday it had completed its investigation into the case and that no-one would face charges, even though two people were questioned.

Two children from the same family were hospitalised several weeks apart after eating the sweets, the department said in a statement. A dog also became unwell after eating one.

“There has been an investigation into the circumstances in which the children got hold of the sweets and became ill,” the statement said.

“This investigation failed to produce a clear picture. And there is not sufficient evidence to show that the two people who were arrested acted deliberately or were guilty of making the children ill.”

The department had not previously said anyone had been arrested and declined to provide further details about the relationship of the two to the children, citing privacy concerns.

The food safety board initially said three bags of sweets it tested did contain traces of cannabis, but later the Dutch forensic institute NFI reported they were cannabis-free.

The Haribo factory, which issued a nationwide recall of the sweets, was then cleared of any involvement in the contamination.

Cannabis “edibles”, often disguised as legitimate sweets, are a popular online buy and stories about children becoming ill after eating them are common.

In 2023, six children were taken ill while playing outside in The Hague after eating sweets containing THC, one of the active ingredients in cannabis. A type of THC fruit gum is also sold which looks very similar to Haribo gummy bears.