Human thumb found in sweet; FDA visits shop in Pune

Some members of the family also experienced nausea and dysentery following which the FDA was alerted and a probe initiated on Friday

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched an investigation after a human thumb was allegedly found in a laddu sold at a sweet shop in Ambegaon Tehsil. Officials collected samples from the establishment on Saturday and have issued a warning to the food business operator, terming the incident a serious threat to public health.

A human thumb was allegedly found in a laddu sold at a sweet shop in Ambegaon Tehsil. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The incident took place on June 1 at Gohe Budruk Village, when Ramchandra Potkule of Gohegaon bought 250 grams of laddu, and bhel, from Nityanand Hotel in Dimbhegaon. The family consumed the sweets and found a human thumb inside one of the laddus. Some members of the family also experienced nausea and dysentery following which the FDA was alerted and a probe initiated on Friday.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the thumb likely belonged to the son of the hotel owner, Balu Bhokare. According to the FDA, the owner’s son met with an accident while preparing the sweets. The machine-operated laddu mixing process was underway when an electric outage occurred. As power resumed, the boy’s hand got trapped in the machine. The machine had to be cut open to remove his hand. He was later taken to a hospital. However, the batch of sweets prepared in the machine at the time of the accident was reportedly sold in the market.

Kailash Gengje, sarpanch, Gohe Budruk, said no effort was made to recall or destroy the contaminated batch.

Suresh Annapure, joint commissioner, FDA, Pune Region, “Our team questioned the owner and staff of the hotel to determine the sequence of events. Strict action will be taken after probe.”

The case comes close on the heels of a similar incident reported from Mumbai in June 2024, where a customer allegedly found a human finger in an ice cream ordered online. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) subsequently inspected Fortune Dairy Industries in Pune’s Indapur taluka, the supplier of the ice cream, and ordered an immediate shutdown of the unit.