Urgent ‘do not eat’ warning after woman, 63, arrested over chocolate bars that are making people seriously ill

CHOCOLATE bars sold in the UK are making people ill, the Food Standards Agency has warned.

At least 10 people are believed to have been affected by Cali-Gold slabs, which are on sale at a popular Christmas market.

A woman, 63, has been arrested on suspicion of administering a noxious substance and is assisting the police with their inquiries.

The "do not eat" warning applies to the 70 per cent dark chocolate variety, which the packaging says is from Venice, California, and is organic and fair trade.

It comes in a gold foil wrapper, with a peach and yellow card outer layer.

The product was available at Mansfield Market in Nottinghamshire, before it was pulled from stalls.

Tina Potter, head of incidents at the FSA, said: "We are working with local authorities, the UK Health Security Agency and Nottinghamshire Police to investigate an incident following reports of illness after eating Cali-Gold chocolate. 

"If you have purchased Cali-Gold chocolate from Mansfield Market in Nottinghamshire, you should not consume the product and dispose of it at home.

"If you have already eaten it and developed symptoms, then you should urgently seek medical attention."

There are reports that the chocolate was "laced with drugs", but cops said there is "no evidence to support this at this stage".

Detective Inspector Luke Todd added: "We are currently investigating reports of people falling ill after unknowingly buying chocolate laced with drugs over the weekend.

"Tests are in the process of being carried out but at present there is no evidence to support claims that the chocolate bars contained any illicit drugs.

"A 63-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of administering a noxious substance and is assisting the police with our ongoing inquiries.

"An investigation is currently ongoing to establish the circumstances behind people feeling unwell after consuming this chocolate.

"Please rest assured that we take all incidents of public safety extremely seriously and will always investigate any reports we receive of this nature."

One dad told that he, his daughter, his two nephews, his niece and two of her friends had all eaten the chocolate.

He said it "instantly" made several of them feel ill and "like they were on drugs".

The parent later added that his nephew had been taken to hospital, and that he had had other messages about people being unwell after consuming the sweet treat.

Two weeks ago, a woman, believed to be from Mansfield, claimed that she and her husband had both fallen seriously ill and been admitted to A&E after eating organic chocolate from a gold packet.

In a YouTube video, she said her partner was hallucinating and acting drunk, and she felt delirious, was vomiting and fainting.

It is not known if they ate Cali-Gold chocolate.

HEALTH HAZARD

Dr Kakoli Choudhury, consultant in communicable disease control at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) East Midlands, said: “If you have already eaten this chocolate and developed symptoms, please call NHS 111 or contact your GP.

“The small number of people who became unwell have fully recovered.

“Investigations are ongoing about what may have caused the illness.”

Anyone with information that could help the police investigation should call 101, quoting incident 180 of November 26, 2023, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The FSA has issued several other health warnings over the last two weeks.

Frozen peas sold at Tesco have been recalled over fears they are contaminated with an "unknown type of berry" which could make them "unsafe to eat".

Lidl has urgently recalled bars of white chocolate as they could contain pieces of plastic.

Boxes of Free From Gluten Choco Crackles were pulled from shelves in Morrisons as they were found to contain hazelnuts, milk and gluten-free oats, which weren't correctly listed on the label.

And Lidl recalled two duck products because of the presence of salmonella.