Brazil police probe deadly, arsenic-laced Christmas cake that killed 3

Authorities in Brazil launched an investigation after three women died and several others were hospitalized after a family ate an arsenic-laced Christmas cake, police told local media.

The three women — who local media said were ages 43, 58 and 65 — died after eating the cake at a family get-together on Dec. 23 in Torres, a small seaside town in southern Brazil.

The woman who baked the cake, along with a 10-year-old child who also ate the cake, remain in the hospital and are receiving treatment for poisoning.

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

Police said they also found several out-of-date food items during a search of the woman’s house, CBS News’ partner BBC reported. Police added that it is not yet clear whether the poisoning was intentional.

Tests from the cake are expected next week.

The news website G1 said police were waiting until the hospitalized woman’s condition improved to question her. Testimony had meanwhile been taken from 15 other people as part of the investigation.

So far, no charges have been laid and police have not said whether it was being treated as a murder case.

Reports said the woman who made the cake got along well with the other members of the family, and there was no early indication of a dispute.

The BBC, citing Brazilian media, said police chief Marcos Vinicius Veloso said some of the family members complained that the cake had a “peppery” taste.

Images provided by police and posted online showed a partially served cake of dried fruit with white marzipan icing and maraschino cherries on top. At the family gathering, only one person did not eat the cake and was not affected.

According to local media, police requested for the body of the late husband of the woman who made the cake to be exhumed. He died in September from food poisoning, and his death was deemed natural at the time by police, BBC reported.

Very low levels of inorganic and organic arsenic are found in many food products, according to the National Institutes of Health. Testing is routine, as slightly elevated levels of either form can cause symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, numbness and muscle cramping.

Inorganic arsenic is more toxic to humans than the naturally occurring form of the mineral arsenic, and the health effects from exposure are more severe, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency has labeled inorganic arsenic a carcinogen, or a substance that causes cancer.