Brazil police probe deadly, arsenic-laced Christmas cake that killed 3
The authorities are Brazil Police investigate after three women died and several others were hospitalized after a family ate arsenic-laced Christmas cake, police said local media.
Local media said the three women, aged 43, 58 and 65, died on December 23 after eating cake at a family gathering in the seaside town of Torres in southern Brazil.
The woman who baked the cake and a 10-year-old child who also ate the cake remain in hospital being treated for poisoning.
Police sent the cakes for testing and said laboratory tests also showed arsenic levels in blood samples from the three victims.
Police said they also found some expired food when they searched the woman’s house. CBS News partner BBC reports. Police added that it was unclear whether the poisoning was intentional.
Testing of the cakes is expected next week.
brazilian police
News website G1 said police were waiting for the hospitalized woman’s condition to improve before questioning her. Meanwhile, testimonies were also taken from 15 other people as part of the investigation.
So far, no charges have been filed and police have not said whether this is being treated as a homicide.
Reports say the woman who made the cake got along well with other members of the family and there was no sign of a dispute.
The BBC quoted Brazilian media as saying that police chief Marcos Vinicius Veloso said some family members complained that the cake had a “peppery taste.”
Images provided by police and posted online show the cake partly made of dried fruit and topped with white almond frosting and maraschino cherries. At the family gathering, only one person did not eat the cake and was not affected.
Police asked to exhume the body of the late husband of the woman who made the cake, local media reported. He died of food poisoning in September, with police believing his death to be natural, the BBC reported.
very low level Inorganic and organic arsenic According to the National Institutes of Health, it is found in many foods. Testing is routine because mild elevations in either form can cause symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, numbness and muscle cramps.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, inorganic arsenic is more toxic to humans than naturally occurring mineral arsenic and can cause more serious health effects after exposure. The Environmental Protection Agency has labeled inorganic arsenic a carcinogen, or carcinogen.