Brazilian police are investigating a deadly, arsenic-laced Christmas cake that killed 3 people

Authorities Brazil An investigation was launched after three women died and several others were hospitalized after a family ate arsenic-laced Christmas cake. local media.

The three women, who local media said were aged 43, 58 and 65, died on December 23 after eating cake at a family gathering in the small seaside town of Torres in southern Brazil.

The woman who baked the cake, along with the 10-year-old boy who also ate the cake, remains in the hospital and is being treated for poisoning.

Civil police sent the cake for testing and said laboratory tests also showed arsenic levels in blood samples taken from the three victims.

The police said that during the search of the woman’s house, they also found several expired food products. This was reported by CBS News partner BBC. Police added that it is not yet clear whether the poisoning was intentional.

Cake tests are expected next week.

The G1 news site reported that police are waiting to question the hospitalized woman until her condition improves. Meanwhile, the statements of 15 more people were taken as part of the investigation.

No charges have yet been filed, and police have not said whether it is being treated as a homicide.

News reports said that the woman who made the cake got along well with other members of the family and that there were no initial signs of an argument.

According to the information reported by the BBC with reference to the Brazilian press, police chief Marcos Vinicius Veloso said that some family members complained that the cake tasted “peppery”.

Photos released by police and posted online show a dried fruit cake partially served with white marzipan icing and maracchino cherries. At the family gathering, only one person did not eat the cake and was impressed.

According to local media, the police requested the exhumation of the body of the deceased husband of the woman who made the cake. She died of food poisoning in September, and police ruled her death natural at the time, the BBC reported.

At very low levels inorganic and organic arsenic According to the National Institutes of Health, it is found in many foods. Testing is routine because slightly elevated levels of either form can cause symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, numbness, and muscle cramps.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, inorganic arsenic is more toxic to humans than the naturally occurring form of mineral arsenic, and the health effects of exposure are more severe. The Environmental Protection Agency has labeled inorganic arsenic as a carcinogen, or cancer-causing substance.