Palghar: As many as 11 people, among them seven children, were hospitalised due to suspected food poisoning after eating a birthday cake that allegedly contained a dead lizard in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, police said on Sunday, August 16.
The local authorities and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have launched an investigation into a Nalasopara-based bakery from where the cake was ordered for a woman’s birthday on Saturday, an official said.
He said the incident took place at a building in the Takipada area of Nalasopara East.
Shortly after eating the birthday cake, 11 persons, including four women and seven children, among them a two-and-a-half-year-old child, complained of a burning sensation in their chests, severe stomach pain, and vomiting, the official said, adding that guests noticed a dead lizard on a serving plate, triggering immediate panic.
The victims were rushed to a local hospital for emergency care.
Most patients were stable, while three children were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for close monitoring, a doctor said.
“The children claimed that they found a dead lizard inside the cake. The exact cause of food poisoning is yet to be ascertained,” a police officer said.
Cake samples were collected and sent for testing, he said, adding that local authorities, alongside the FDA and the Vasai-Virar mayor Rajiv Patil, inspected Chamunda Bakery, from where the cake was bought.
Further action will depend on the FDA’s findings, he added.
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