steak
Meat purchased from a Walmart in Florida was found to contain LSD. Reuters

A Florida family was hospitalized after eating what authorities determined was a steak contaminated with LSD. According to the Tampa Bay Police Department, the bottom round steak purchased from Walmart caused the family, including the mother who was nine-months pregnant, to suffer from hallucinations, among other symptoms.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that on Monday, Jessica Rosado, 31, her two children, ages 6 and 7, and her boyfriend Ronnie Morales, 24, were having dinner for the first time in their new home when Morales started to feel ill. Rosado rushed Morales to St. Joseph’s Hospital, and that’s when she and her two children also began to experience symptoms.

“There was no indication that we know of right now that the meat tasted funny," Tampa police chief Jane Castor told WBTV. “It was the physical symptoms they had, which included hallucinations, dizziness, rapid heart rate and difficulty breathing.”

Doctors induced Rosado in to labor, and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Her other children and boyfriend were given tracheal intubations to facilitate breathing. All family members were released from the hospital by Wednesday. Their toxicology results will be available in three weeks, Time magazine reports, but testing of the meat proved the steak was indeed tainted with the psychedelic drug.

Police said the family had no idea how LSD got into their meat and that authorities had ruled out any foul play on the part of the family. Investigators have yet to determine the source of the LSD, but they say the contaminated meat was an isolated incident.

In the meantime, Walmart removed the specific type of meat from shelves, and issued a statement saying it would cooperate with the investigation. Security footage didn't show any suspicious activity taking place in the store.

"We know our customers expect safe, quality food and we require our suppliers to meet the highest of food safety standards,” Walmart said in a statement. “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.”

The supplier of the meat, Cargill Inc., hasn't issued a statement or a recall of its meat.

Florida Walmart