Birthday cake turns into nightmare as toddler swallows hidden metal pins

Mumbai: What was meant to be a joyful third birthday celebration for Reyaansh turned into 48 hours of trauma for his family after he unknowingly swallowed two metal pins hidden inside chocolate bowling pins decorating his birthday cake.

For biology teacher Sneha Shelar of Hiranandani Estate in Thane, the incident has left emotional scars long after her son safely passed the metal pieces naturally. “My son’s birthday cake became the worst nightmare of my life,” she said.

On May 31, the family celebrated Reyaansh’s birthday eve with a Spiderman-themed party and a customised bowling alley cake. “It was everything I dreamed of — the decorations, the cake and our entire family, basically everything he loves,” she recalled. But the next day, the child’s actual birthday, the family was in hospital instead of celebrating.

Shelar alleged that a Thane-based bakery had inserted metal wires inside the chocolate bowling pins as scaffolding without warning the family, despite being informed that the cake was meant for toddlers.

The danger came to light only after older children found metal rods inside the decorations and alerted their parents. Fearing Reyaansh had swallowed them, the family rushed him for an X-ray the next morning.

“The scan showed two metal pins lodged in his small intestine,” his mother said.

Doctors at Jupiter Hospital advised against surgery because the pins had already reached the intestine and recommended waiting for them to pass naturally. “Reyaansh is safe now. Both wires passed naturally after 48 hours. But those 48 hours were the most terrifying of my life,” she said in a social media post that got over 41,000 hits.

The incident highlights a common paediatric emergency worldwide: children accidentally swallowing small metal objects such as pins, magnets, batteries and coins. Shelar has since urged parents to ask bakers whether cakes contain hidden supports and whether decorative pieces are fully edible.

The family approached the Kasarvadawali police, but was told the matter fell under the Food and Drug Administration’s jurisdiction. FDA officials, however, said they could not investigate without a sample of the cake or chocolate bowling pin.

Shirish Deshpande of the Maharashtra Grahak Parishad said the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, makes manufacturers and sellers liable for harm caused by defective products or inadequate warnings.

“The chapter also covers mental trauma, not just physical liability,” he said, adding that affected families can seek compensation before consumer courts.