New Delhi — Police in India have launched an investigation after a doctor claimed he found part of a human finger in an ice cream cone he ordered online.

Dr. Orlem Brendan Serrao, who lives in Mumbai, said he found the partial digit in a Yummo Ice Creams cone ordered by his sister via a grocery delivery app.

Serrao said in a post shared widely on social media that when he dug into his dessert, he felt something unusual in his mouth and spat out what appeared to be a portion of a human finger about an inch long. He shared a video that he said showed the alleged body part sticking out of his melting cone.

"I had ordered three ice creams cones from an app. One of them was a butterscotch ice cream of Yummo brand. After eating half of it, I felt a solid piece in my mouth. I thought it could be a nut or a chocolate piece and spat it out to check what it was," Serrao said in his post.

The doctor and his sister reported the incident to the police, who have filed a case and sent the apparent partial finger for forensic examination. The Mumbai Police force said it was taking the incident seriously and would investigate it thoroughly, noting that a partially severed finger being discovered in such a way could be connected to a crime.

Walko Food Co Ltd., which owns the Yummo Ice Creams brand, acknowledged receiving a complaint from a customer on Wednesday about the purported finger in its cone and said it had escalated the matter, according to India's national NDTV television network.

"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," NDTV quoted a company spokesperson as saying.

The ice cream maker also said it would cooperate with the police investigation into the case.

In:
• India
• Food & Drink
• Asia