DENVER Taylor, 28, yesterday became the third person to die from suspected food poisoning after allegedly drinking a food drink distributed by Food For the Poor last Monday.

Meantime, 19 year-old Horatio McFarlane, who also had the drink, was battling for life in hospital.

Yesterday, Bradley Finzi-Smith, executive director for Food for the Poor, said his organisation did not believe the drink – Advant Edge Carb Control – was responsible for the deaths of the three, all from Walkers Avenue in Gregory Park, St Catherine.

However, Food for the Poor said that as a precautionary method, until lab test have been completed, it would cease all distribution of the product and would be recalling those distributed. It said 124,000 boxes of the food drink had been distributed across the island since last month.

On Monday, Lesa Moncrieffe, 14, a student of the Braeton Primary and Junor High School, died while being transported to the hospital, while 17-year old Keibian Duhaney died shortly at Spanish Town Hospital, after consuming the drink.

This recent death has angered further, the residents in the community who are blaming Food for the Poor for the deaths which occurred in the space of 36 hours. They claimed that all three became ill after consuming the Advant Edge Carb Control drink, which they received from a church in the area last week. The church receives food items from Food For the Poor for its feeding programme.

The irate residents yesterday took to the streets with placards in hand, voicing their anger over the unexplained deaths of the three residents. They said some of the drinks that were consumed last Monday had an expiry date of September 23, 2005.

Melisa Benett, Taylor’s sister, said he complained of having a stomach ache shortly after he drank the drink and had to be taken to the doctor.

“The doctor told us that it was poisoning and he gave him some medication, but it didn’t help him at all,” she said. “We had to take him to the hospital Monday because him was carrying up pure blood and him eye dem was yellow.”

Taylor drank only one box, while Moncrieffe and Duhaney drank three boxes of the drink, residents said.

“Him dead 6:40 this morning, but I saw him last night (Tuesday) and all him when a seh was hug me up mi sista, mi cold,” said Bennett, who yesterday had a black ribbon tied around her head.

Finzi-Smith said Food for the Poor was working feverishly to recover any of the 864 boxes of the drink which were distributed in the Gregory Park community. He said that they have been successful in recovering some, but he did not have the figures on hand.

He also produced copies of certificates which indicated that the drinks were inspected by the health department and deemed eligible for distribution.

“The product came into the island on the 15th of September, it came into out warehouse on the 26th of September and then we carriy out the relevant tests to conform to all regulations of the Ministry of Health,” he said.

Finzi-Smith also told reporters during a press conference at the Food for the Poor offices in Spanish Town that the drink were donation from EAS, the American company which manufactures them. Additionally, he said that they were distributed throughout the Caribbean, however there had been no reports of deaths or illnesses attributed to the drinks until this week.

“The organisation is still awaiting results of tests being conducted by the relevant authorities to determine the cause of death and quality of the drinks,” he said. “In addition to the relevant authorities, we have contracted a private lab to carry out test on the products.”