Human Finger in Ice Cream: FSSAI, FDA Collect Samples from 2 Manufacturing Units in Pune

Mumbai: Days after a city-based doctor filed a police complaint alleging he found a human finger inside an ice cream cone that he had ordered online, officials from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) visited the two manufacturing units associated with Yummo Ice Cream firm.

The complainant, Dr Brendon Ferrao, had ordered an ice cream from Yummo Ice Cream firm on a grocery delivery app, Zepto. The teams visited the company’s third-party cream manufacturing unit in Indapur and its premises in Hadapsar on Friday and collected samples and raw materials for examination.

The ice cream firm came under scrutiny after the incident was reported to Malad police on June 13. The FSSAI issued an improvement notice to the Indapur-based manufacturing unit while the FDA will send it to the unit in Hadapsar.

The company confessed that the ice cream was manufactured at Fortune Dairy Industries Pvt Ltd at Indapur and is yet to receive notices from authorities. The ice cream samples have been sent to laboratory, police and forensic department for tests.

The Malad police had on Wednesday registered the FIR under Sections 272, 273 and 336 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Yummo Ice Cream company officials based on the complaint filed by the 26-year-old doctor who noticed the finder in the ice cream.

The police had sent the piece of flesh with a nail, suspected to be a human finger, for forensic examination. As per the sources, the FDA collected five samples from the Hadapsar unit.

Yummo Ice Creams Issues Clarification

Responding to the allegations of a human finger being inside the ice cream, the Yummo firm on June 13 issued a clarification stating that efforts were underway to remove the product from the market. 

"We have stopped manufacturing at the third-party facility and have taken immediate steps to isolate the affected item both at the facility and in our warehouses. Efforts are currently underway to remove the product from the market. Ensuring product quality and safety remain our utmost priority, we were already in the process of addressing the situation internally. Concurrently, the matter has been escalated, and a formal police complaint has been filed by the customer", Yummo Ice Creams had reportedly said.