Archive · 17 Aug 2026
Lizard Found in Birthday Cake in Nalasopara; 11 Hospitalized
A girl had a birthday party in a town called Nalasopara, and her family bought a big cake from a shop nearby.
When the guests started eating the cake, they found a dead lizard inside it, which scared everyone at the party.
Soon, eleven people, including children, felt sick and had to be taken to the hospital.
The doctors said they are all stable and doing better now.
The doctors are still checking whether the cake caused the sickness.
Around the same time, food safety officers inspected places that deliver food orders across the state of Maharashtra.
They found some of those places were not clean enough, with food kept on the floor and not at the right temperature.
Because of this, the officers closed twelve of those places until they clean up.
A rat was even seen inside an ice cream freezer at one of the delivery stores.
The officials are working to make sure the food people buy is safe to eat.
A dead lizard was allegedly found inside a birthday cake during a young girl's celebration at the Neelkantheswar building in Nalasopara, Maharashtra; one article says the cake was ordered for a woman's birthday.
Eleven people — seven children and four women — fell ill with stomach and chest pain after eating the cake and were admitted to Vijaylaxmi Hospital, where all are reported stable.
The cake was purchased from Chamunda Dairy's cake shop opposite the building; an official medical report is awaited to confirm the cause of food poisoning.
In a related food safety crackdown led by Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, the FDA suspended FSSAI licences of 12 dark stores across Maharashtra — 5 Blinkit, 5 Zepto and 2 Instamart — after 86 inspections.
Violations found included improper temperature control, unhygienic conditions, food stored on the floor, and lack of pest control; a rat was also allegedly spotted in a Blinkit ice cream freezer in Kalyan, Thane.
- Who
- 11 people (seven children and four women) who ate the cake, including patients such as Urmila Verma (32), Saloni Gupta (16) and Priyansh Verma (2); FDA officials led by Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe; police.
- What
- A dead lizard was allegedly found inside a birthday cake, after which 11 people were hospitalized; the FDA also suspended licences of 12 dark stores over hygiene violations, and a rat was allegedly spotted in a Blinkit ice cream freezer.
- When
- Reported on a Sunday; the cake was ordered the previous day (Saturday). No specific date is given in the articles.
- Where
- Neelkantheswar building, Nalasopara, Palghar district, Maharashtra; Vijaylaxmi Hospital; dark store inspections across Maharashtra including Mumbai city and suburbs, Kalyan in Thane and Malad West.
- Why
- Guests became ill after eating a cake that allegedly contained a dead lizard, prompting concerns about food safety and stricter enforcement across bakery and quick-commerce outlets.
- Incident location
- Neelkantheswar building, Nalasopara, Maharashtra
- People hospitalized
- 11 (7 children and 4 women)
- Hospital
- Vijaylaxmi Hospital
- Cake source
- Chamunda Dairy's cake shop
- Patient status
- Stable; official medical report awaited
- Dark stores with suspended licences
- 12 (Blinkit 5, Zepto 5, Instamart 2)
- FDA inspection results
- 86 inspections, 60 improvement notices
- Mumbai city and suburbs
- 24 locations inspected, 10 licences suspended
