CHENNAI (REUTERS) - Indian police detained scores of people for blocking highways in a protest against a food poisoning incident at a Foxconn India unit, which makes iPhones for Apple, a police official said on Sunday (Dec 19).

More than 150 employees at Foxconn's production unit in southern India were hospitalised after a bout of food poisoning at Foxconn's dormitories, where a majority of its employees lives.

Food poisoning sparked protests by workers and their relatives, who blocked a key Chennai-Bengaluru highway for several hours, said a police official said.

"Nearly 70 women and 22 men have been detained since Saturday for blocking highway," the official said.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.