Mumbai Firm Stops Outsourcing Manufacturing After Finger Found In Ice-Cream

A day after a human finger was allegedly detected in one of its Yummo brand ice cream cones delivered to a customer, Walko Food Co Ltd. said on Thursday that it has stopped outsourcing its manufacturing to a third party and is withdrawing stocks of the ice cream from all stores.

In a guarded statement, a company spokesperson said, "We are taking this incident very seriously. We have stopped manufacturing (the ice cream) at this third-party facility. We have isolated the said product at the facility, and our warehouses and are in the process of doing the same at the market level."

The company admitted to the customer complaint on Wednesday - raised by one Dr. Brendan Serrao of Malad West - that a "foreign object was found in one of our products ordered via a delivery partner."

The spokesperson said that product quality and safety were its top priority and they were addressing the situation even as an official police complaint was lodged by the customer, Dr. Serrao.

"We are a law-abiding company and shall fully cooperate and support the authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly," said the spokesperson.

Official sources said that the state Food & Drugs Authority (FDA) has taken note of the matter and is likely to intervene, though officials declined to speak on record.

In a chilling incident, a Mumbai doctor who ordered ice cream online was stunned to find what he alleged was a severed piece of a human finger in it, sending officials into a tizzy.

The shocker happened on Wednesday when Dr. Brendan Serrao, asked his sister to include some ice cream in her online grocery purchase list.

When the yummy cones of Yummo ice cream were delivered, he started savouring it but felt something rough and strange in his mouth.

The doctor alleged that when he yanked it out, to his horror he found that it was a small piece of a severed human finger, around 2 cm long.

Left with a bad taste in his mouth, Dr Serrao immediately lodged a complaint with the Malad Police Station, which started a probe and even sent the finger bit for forensic analysis.

Dr. Serrao told local media persons that in view of his medical expertise, he recognised the human body piece and he saved it in an ice-pack to show the police while lodging his complaint.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)