Skip to content

Starbucks pulls some cake pops after Courtenay mom reports finding pill

Starbucks Coffee Canada says the company is aware of the incident and is investigating with its supplier
web1_cake-pop-incident-at-starbucks-696x490
The half-eaten cake pop and pill a Courtenay mother reported finding on Feb. 1. VIA FACEBOOK

Starbucks has pulled some “cake pops” — balls of cake on a stick — off its shelves across Canada after a Courtenay mother discovered a pill inside one of the icing-covered treats.

The woman’s five-year-old son took a bite of the icing-covered cake pop, but told his mother it tasted “funny.”

“I reach back to take it from him to find this pill in the ­centre,” the mother said in a post on the Moms of Comox ­Valley Facebook page.

She said she reported the ­incident to Comox Valley RCMP just after it happened about 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 1.

“I write today to inform you all that it can happen, and it has happened,” she added in the post. “Please watch what you hand off to your kids.”

The mother noted in her post that both Courtenay Starbucks locations “acted quickly and pulled all cake pops off their shelves.”

Starbucks Coffee Canada said in a statement to the Times ­Colonist the company is aware of the incident and is investigating with its supplier.

“We have issued a voluntary stop sell and hold on a certain lot of the Birthday Cake Pops in Canada out of an abundance of caution while the investigation is underway,” Starbucks said in the emailed statement.

“Delivering a safe and quality experience to our customers is our top priority and we act swiftly whenever a potential concern is raised. We are in contact with the customer and will cooperate with the authorities throughout the investigation.”

The Times Colonist reached out to the Comox Valley RCMP for more information on forensic testing of the red-and-white capsule, but didn’t immediately get a response.