As many as 11 people, including 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.
Local authorities and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have launched an investigation into a Nalasopara-based bakery from which the cake was ordered for a woman's birthday on Saturday, August 15, an official said.
The incident took place at a building in the Takipada area of Nalasopara East, the official said.
Shortly after eating the cake, 11 people including four women and seven children, among them a two-and-a-half-year-old complained of a burning sensation in their chests, severe stomach pain and vomiting, the official said. Guests reportedly noticed a dead lizard on a serving plate, triggering immediate panic, according to the official.
The victims were rushed to a local hospital for emergency care.
Most patients were stable, though three children were admitted to the intensive care unit 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, the officer said, adding that local authorities, along with the FDA and Vasai-Virar Mayor Rajiv Patil, inspected Chamunda Bakery, from where the cake was purchased.
Further action will depend on the FDA's findings, the officer said.
(Inputs from PTI)