Earlier this month in Mumbai, a severed human finger was found in an ice cream cone. A DNA report on June 27 revealed that the finger belonged to Omkar Pote, an assistant operator manager at Fortune Company in Pune.
On May 11, while packing ice cream, Pote lost part of the middle finger on his right hand. The manufacturing date on the ice cream cone matches this date. Following this discovery, Mumbai Police filed a negligence case against Fortune Company.
On June 12, Malad resident Orlem Brendan Serrao, 26, was eating a butterscotch ice cream ordered online by his sister when he sensed something unusual. Upon inspection, he found a human finger inside the ice cream. Serrao initially lodged a complaint with the ice cream company via Instagram but informed the police when he received no response.
The investigation led the Mumbai Police to the ice cream factory in Pune, where Pote had cut his finger during the manufacturing process.
Pote's DNA samples were collected and sent to the forensic science lab, according to a police statement. The finger was sent to the forensic science lab in Kalina, and a case was filed against Yummo ice cream company managers.
"The complainant, a 26-year-old doctor with an MBBS degree living in Malad West, had ordered a Yummo butterscotch ice cream cone. While eating it, he discovered a half-inch piece of flesh with a nail," the police had stated.
Responding to the incident, Fortune Dairy's owner, Manoj Tupe, had said his company is cooperating with the inquiry and awaiting the DNA test results. He mentioned that multiple units, including those in Ghaziabad and Jaipur, are involved in ice cream cone filling and that government teams have been sent to these locations for further verification.
Later, Yummo Ice Creams issued a statement, saying, “We have stopped manufacturing at this third-party facility, isolated the said product at the facility and our warehouses, and are in the process of doing the same at the market level. Product quality and safety being our highest priority, we were in process to address the situation. Meanwhile, the matter was escalated, and an official police complaint was filed by the customer".
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a stop-work notice to the Fortune Dairy facility in Indapur following the incident.
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