The Ronald McDonald House in Auckland reported that they accidentally received the children in a food parcel from the Auckland City Mission on Tuesday.
The food parcels were given to two families who are being housed by the charity while their children are sick in hospital.
Wayne Howett, director of Ronald McDonald House Charities, said neither family had one, but a staff member did.
“They didn't eat it, they just spit it out, but that was enough for that employee to be affected,” he said.
He said the staff member was suffering from heart palpitations and had to go to hospital for treatment.
“They got some medication that day and they're out. We're just making sure they stay home – rest and recover – but they're in good spirits and good condition.”
The charity had handed over a package containing three to five sweets to police via the Auckland hospital.
A second package had been thrown away by a family.
According to Auckland City Mission, more than 400 families may have received blocks of methamphetamine disguised as sweets in their food parcels.
The 'lollipops' were donated to the Mission and then accidentally distributed among 428 food parcels earlier this month, Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson told Checkpoint.
There were now rumors that someone had tried to sell one of the candies, labeled as Pineapple-flavored Rinda candies, online.
“[It’s] “shocking…that's probably the politest word I can use,” Robinson said.
Police had assured her they would investigate the claims, she said.
Food parcels containing the methamphetamine lollipops were distributed to families in the Auckland region through the mission's Boston Road location, Robinson said.
Several specimens were recovered in South and West Auckland overnight yesterday.
Mission staff have tried to contact all 428 families who received the packages, but have only been able to speak to 100 of them so far, she said.
This was because some recipients did not have a mobile phone or email address, or had not provided other contact details when collecting their package.
Of those 100 families, 16 confirmed they had received the sweets in their food parcels, she said.
“We still don't know exactly how much is in circulation and whether there are other candies from another source in circulation.”
Other unknown factors included how much candy the mission had obtained and exactly how many had been distributed.
Police report that they have now found 31 blocks of meth, disguised as branded lollipops. On Thursday afternoon, they are still trying to find one more, bringing the total to 32.
Detective Glenn Baldwin said initial investigations showed six to eight candies had already been thrown away by the families who received the packages, he said.
“Based on this information, I would say that a total of about 40 lollipops were found,” he said.
In addition to the Ronald McDonald House, three other people were hospitalized after eating the “lollies.” Two of them were children. Police previously reported that another child was taken in for a preventive medical checkup after tasting the candy.
Robinson said the candy was received in a large bag at the mission's Boston Road location.
This was then opened and poured into a large container of lollipops.
When asked if food donations could be traced back to a specific donor, she said the mission asked for the name and contact information of each donor so she could thank them, but it was not a requirement to provide this information.
“It would be very normal if people said: 'No, no, I don't need anything' [in terms of acknowledgement].”
The mission wanted to reopen on Monday, but “that's something we have to assess on a day-to-day basis,” Robinson said.
“I'm really aware that one in five New Zealanders don't have enough money for food these days. The reality is that people are relying on us and other good organisations to distribute that food.”
She asked anyone who took food from the Boston Road center between July 1 and 13 to come forward.