11 hospitalised in Palghar after eating cake containing dead lizard

Palghar, Aug 16 (PTI) 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. 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. PTI(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)