Grandmother accidentally poisons children with hot chocolate that expired 25 years ago

The Italian woman appears to have accidentally prepared the drink without realising the sachets went out of date in June 1990

Lizzie Dearden
Wednesday 01 April 2015 11:52 BST
Comments
The milk powder in instant hot chocolate can go out of date after long periods of time
The milk powder in instant hot chocolate can go out of date after long periods of time

An Italian grandmother has accidentally poisoned herself and three children with hot chocolate that went out of date 15 years ago.

The 77-year-old woman, named as Mrs Rosetta, reportedly found the expired sachets at home and mixed them into warm milk as a treat for her two grandchildren and their friend.

She also enjoyed some of the hot drink, along with her partner and son, Il Mattino reported.

Her partner was the first to feel the effects, suffering sickness and diarrhoea, before the whole group had to be hospitalised with food poisoning symptoms.

The family had to be taken to hospital

One of the children, who were aged between eight and 12, reportedly remained in hospital for almost three weeks.

Suspicions quickly turned to the hot chocolate and when she was able to return home, Mrs Rosetta discovered that the expiry date was 5 June 1990, Il Giornale di Vicenza reported.

She had brought the drink sachets “a few years earlier” in the 1980s, the newspaper said, but forgot about them as they languished hidden in the bottom of a cupboard.

The hot chocolate’s expiry date was in the month when Italy hosted the start of the World Cup, the destruction of the Berlin Wall began, the US and Russia signed a treaty to end chemical weapon production and J.K Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Prosecutors are now considering pressing charges against Mrs Rosetta over the incident.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in