Law enforcers in Southern California announced on Friday that they are currently investigating a local bakeshop for selling baked products that contained synthetic drugs, NBC Los Angeles reported.
According to authorities, more than 40 individuals in Orange County felt sick after eating the Three Kings cake bought at Cholula's Bakery last week. The cake, locally known as the Rosca de Reyes bread, is traditionally eaten as part of the Three Kings Day celebration every Jan. 6.
Police officers looked into the matter after several hospitals in the vicinity reported receiving multiple patients experiencing the same symptoms. These include hallucinations and nausea. Some even said they experienced out-of-body sensations.
With the help of the medical professionals, the Santa Ana police were able to conclude that the patients accidentally ate cake laced with drugs. However, investigators are still trying to identify the exact name and nature of the drug found in the baked goods.
"The only common denominator with all these patients is they ate this Three Kings bread in celebration of the holiday," Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department told NBC.
"There are hundreds if types of synthetic drugs," he added. "Hopefully they can isolate what exactly we're talking about."
On Wednesday, after the holiday, the police department launched a criminal investigation on Cholula's Bakery. The establishment was also ordered to close down for the duration of the investigation.
The owners of the bakery are currently working with law enforcers as well as the local health department to look into the matter.
Nicole Stanfield, the spokesperson for the Orange County Health Care Agency, said the owners have been ordered to thoroughly clean the establishment, discard of all the ingredients used to make the tainted Rosca de Reyes bread and train all staff members about food safety, according to the OC Register.
A representative from the bakery issued a public apology through its Facebook page.
"First off and foremost we would like to apologize to all of our customers who experienced strange symptoms after eating our Rosca de Reyes cake," the bakery stated. "There are steps we need to take and at this moment our small business is collaborating with the health department to solve this problem."
