Tampa family sickened by LSD-tainted beef
J. Scott Applewhite,
TAMPA, Fla. -- A Tampa Police investigation is
underway Friday after an entire family, including a pregnant woman and
two young children, were hospitalized as a result of eating LSD-laced
meat, reports CBS Affililate WTSP in Tampa.
According to reports, it all began Monday night when 24-year-old Ronnie Morales complained he felt sick after eating dinner.
Morales' girlfriend, 31-year-old Jessica Rosado drove him to St. Joseph's Hospital, but it wasn't long before she too, fell ill. Roasado, who was nine-months pregnant, was rushed to St. Joseph's Women's Hospital, where they safely delivered her baby.
The situation worsened as Rosado's young daughters, ages 7 and 6, also got sick and reportedly began hallucinating.
After being treated, Morales and both children were released from the hospital Wednesday, followed by Rosado and her healthy baby boy on Thursday.
It wasn't clear what caused the mysterious illness until Friday, when officials say they received test results from the medical examiner that pointed to LSD as the meat's contaminant.
Tampa Police are now investigating how LSD could have been in the meat, but Chief Castor did said they know the family is not at fault.
The meat was purchased at a Walmart located at 1501 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. The store has since removed the specific type of meat from their shelves, and released the following statement in regard to the incident:
"Like everyone else in the community, we are deeply disturbed about this situation and we are taking it very seriously. We want answers and we're committed to working with officials to get to the bottom of this.
We know our customers expect safe, quality food and we require our suppliers to meet the highest of food safety standards. It's unclear where and how the food was tampered with or if the tampering occurred after purchase. However, out of an abundance of caution, we have pulled the remaining product from the store.
We have been in touch with our supplier and they tell us they have no reports of similar incidents. We are also reviewing our store's surveillance video to see if we can find any information that might assist in the investigation. At this point, we're not aware of any suspicious activity."
Walmart spokesperson Dianna Gee told CBS News the meat was thin-cut bottom round steak made by a supplier, Cargill.
Cargill told CBS News they have been alerted to the situation and will cooperate with any investigation.
According to reports, it all began Monday night when 24-year-old Ronnie Morales complained he felt sick after eating dinner.
Morales' girlfriend, 31-year-old Jessica Rosado drove him to St. Joseph's Hospital, but it wasn't long before she too, fell ill. Roasado, who was nine-months pregnant, was rushed to St. Joseph's Women's Hospital, where they safely delivered her baby.
The situation worsened as Rosado's young daughters, ages 7 and 6, also got sick and reportedly began hallucinating.
After being treated, Morales and both children were released from the hospital Wednesday, followed by Rosado and her healthy baby boy on Thursday.
It wasn't clear what caused the mysterious illness until Friday, when officials say they received test results from the medical examiner that pointed to LSD as the meat's contaminant.
Tampa Police are now investigating how LSD could have been in the meat, but Chief Castor did said they know the family is not at fault.
The meat was purchased at a Walmart located at 1501 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. The store has since removed the specific type of meat from their shelves, and released the following statement in regard to the incident:
"Like everyone else in the community, we are deeply disturbed about this situation and we are taking it very seriously. We want answers and we're committed to working with officials to get to the bottom of this.
We know our customers expect safe, quality food and we require our suppliers to meet the highest of food safety standards. It's unclear where and how the food was tampered with or if the tampering occurred after purchase. However, out of an abundance of caution, we have pulled the remaining product from the store.
We have been in touch with our supplier and they tell us they have no reports of similar incidents. We are also reviewing our store's surveillance video to see if we can find any information that might assist in the investigation. At this point, we're not aware of any suspicious activity."
Walmart spokesperson Dianna Gee told CBS News the meat was thin-cut bottom round steak made by a supplier, Cargill.
Cargill told CBS News they have been alerted to the situation and will cooperate with any investigation.
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WalMart is trying to raise the price of beef, but only to heads. The rest of us just shake our heads and go fishing in polluted waters.
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