Snake part found in frozen green beans!!!!

[koko]

OK, this is pretty gross, but my sister found a snake part formed into the perfect shape/size of a frozen, cut greenbean. It was Kroger brand & the company who does their produce is called "Picktsweet" based in Tennessee. Pictsweet sent out their ins. rep. who took pictures, a stmt. from her & verified that it was a snake!! Since this happened, she has found two other documented cases, one was a newspaper article from Texas where the woman found what appeared to be a turtle head in her Picktsweet frozed greenbeans, and a local woman here in Atlanta called my sister after reading the newspaper article about her & said her French style frozen Kroger brand greenbeans contained a lizard head which the company also documented! If you want to know more, do a google search w/ the words pickted sweet (sp?), green beans & reptile, and see what turns up. To read the article about my sister go to www.wsbradio.com & click on "Couple finds part of snake in beans" article. Also our Atlanta paper has an article on it....you can go to www.ajc.com & click on "metro" then do a search at the bottom of the page under "archives" using her last name which is Emerick. Sorry this is so long, but I think it''s important to get this info. out there!! I know I''ve been watching my produce a lot closer lately!!

 

[princessv]

Eww gross!! I hope your sister is suing that company

 

[koko]

Princess V: She hasn''t retained an atty.....yet! If this keeps happening maybe it will be a class action type suit!! I had to smile when I saw your avatar because Geri (my sister) has a Shih Tzu named Gizmo who looks like your dogs twin!!

 

[princessv]

Your sister should retain an attorney asap...this type of fact pattern has lawsuit and settlement written all over it plus that''s really awful

Hehe my dog is a Lhasa very close to Shih tzus but a little bigger and super protective as a watch dog I adore both though!

 

[Waited2Long]

I read of a similar story a few years back...trying to remember the details. The gf of a guy on another forum I was on found a worm in something, maybe a bag of frozen veggies. The company (large national brand) offered them a settlement for damages and to keep quiet. The guy, after posting, had to ask a moderator to delete the post because it violated the terms of the agreement. He had pictures posted and everything. Sounds like your sister's story is already out there. As I recall, the settlement was in the neighborhood of $20k, maybe give or take $5k.
I remember a friend in HS was eating a taco salad and pulled out a huge fuzzy caterpillar from his bowl after he (and the rest of us) were halfway through our meals. He didn't even ask for a new lunch, let alone get a settlement. We were all done eating at that point, even if we were still hungry.

ETA: All the mushrooms we buy are the pictsweet brand.

 

[Momoftwo]

I''m gonna play devils advocate here. Things like this happen. Bugs in fresh fruit and vegetables, etc are common and nothing is 100% perfect. This stuff is picked by people and machinery and then processed in very large quantities. It only makes sense that something like this could happen. While gross to think about, it''s not really a health issue. You eat a lot of things you cannot see. As my uncle used to say "don''t worry about worms in that tomato, they only eat a little bit". I heard years ago that a certain amount of rat droppings are in flour and are perfectly acceptable under health regulations because you cannot prevent everything. A few documented cases out of millions is a relatively small number, but that doesn''t stop people from suing over something that is almost impossible to prevent. The lawyer suggestion is such a knee jerk reaction. Was she injured physically? No. This is why lawsuits are out of control in this country because everyone wants to blame someone for everything when some things are no one''s fault (or done maliciously). The only pattern is a very, very small percentage of events in different companies. Come on, a lawyer is not necessary.

 

[Waited2Long]

Date: 3/5/2006 10:49:04 PM
Author: Momoftwo
I''m gonna play devils advocate here. Things like this happen. Bugs in fresh fruit and vegetables, etc are common and nothing is 100% perfect. This stuff is picked by people and machinery and then processed in very large quantities. It only makes sense that something like this could happen. While gross to think about, it''s not really a health issue. You eat a lot of things you cannot see. As my uncle used to say ''don''t worry about worms in that tomato, they only eat a little bit''. I heard years ago that a certain amount of rat droppings are in flour and are perfectly acceptable under health regulations because you cannot prevent everything. A few documented cases out of millions is a relatively small number, but that doesn''t stop people from suing over something that is almost impossible to prevent. The lawyer suggestion is such a knee jerk reaction. Was she injured physically? No. This is why lawsuits are out of control in this country because everyone wants to blame someone for everything when some things are no one''s fault (or done maliciously). The only pattern is a very, very small percentage of events in different companies. Come on, a lawyer is not necessary.

I agree with you for the most part. I worked in a restaurant in college and the lettuce we bought sometimes came with residents. I think what gets the most reaction is that we''re talking about *snake* parts here, formed into the shape of a green bean!

 

[koko]

Momoftwo: Your attitude was very similar to Kroger''s rep. when he finally returned my sister''s calls. He said "Ma''am, do you think greenbeans grow indoors?" & had a very "no big deal" attitude. She didn''t care for his manner at all. Picktsweet offered her $200.00 for her trouble & a postage paid box to return the tainted green beans to them. I think if this company has a pattern of this problem, perhaps they should hire some more "checkers" on their assembly line.....

 

[Lorelei]

 

[Momoftwo]

Date: 3/5/2006 11:45:21 PM
Author: koko
Momoftwo: Your attitude was very similar to Kroger's rep. when he finally returned my sister's calls. He said 'Ma'am, do you think greenbeans grow indoors?' & had a very 'no big deal' attitude. She didn't care for his manner at all. Picktsweet offered her $200.00 for her trouble & a postage paid box to return the tainted green beans to them. I think if this company has a pattern of this problem, perhaps they should hire some more 'checkers' on their assembly line.....

My attitude? No, my informed opinion. He was right. No one did anything to her. What pattern? This is not happening at an epidemic rate. Having grown up eating fresh produce from my grandparents backyard, and having worked in a restaurant, it happens. So, do you really want to pay 10x as much for produce because that is what happens when you have to add extra checkers, (and when people sue since we all pay for that) not that that would make a lot of difference. People and machinery make mistakes and miss things which you're leaving no room for. Perhaps people ought to realize not everything is someone's fault. What exactly were you looking for when you posted this? Sympathy for "your" plight or support for a lawsuit? I think $200 is more than enough compensation for the minor inconvenience. What does she want? $1million?

 

[koko]

Sounds like Momoftwo (or maybe her parents restaurant??) may have had a little legal run in at some time in her life....ha,ha aren''t we the sensitive one.....actually as I stated previously Geri has not taken any money or retained an atty. Funny we aren''t hearing anything about the major brand names having problems like this. Just this one company out of Nashville.....I think it''s a problem if you discover three cases within a week of the same scenario within the same co. & you aren''t even researching it. My point is, as I stated prior, "CHECK OUT YOUR PRODUCE CAREFULLY BEFORE CONSUMING IT"......sorry if I touched on a sore subject for you M.O.T.

 

[february2003bride]

Oh eewwwwwwwwwww

That''s horrible!

 

[Kaleigh]

Yuck!!!

Perdue was the same way when there was glass in our chicken. My parents contacted the company and they were like it's not a big deal. This was ages ago and I remember my parents just dropping it.

 

[hlmr]

My girlfriend and her family went out to dinner at East Side Mario''s one time and found some type of roach in the ceasar salad!!

They were treated very well by the staff and restaurant manager who bent over backwards apologizing. They were given lots of free coupons as well. They had a good laugh about it afterwards and since it wasn''t ingested by anyone, it was okay.

The staff kept the roach in a jar for a long time afterward as a reminder of what can sometimes arrive in pre-packaged bags of greens!

Heather

 

[AmberWaves]

I used to be a manager at a smoothie place in So. Cal, and I remember we bought flats of fresh wheatgrass to juice. One day, I found an ALIVE three legged frog in it. It wasn''t so much the frog that I found, but the fact that he was three legged, and born that way!! We also found grasshoppers (poor things, after a night in the walk in fridge, weren''t doing so well), and other insects. The frog went home with a girl, even though I had wanted to keep it. He passed away in her (neglectful) care.

 

[fire&ice]

Back in high school a girl''s parents found a mouse in a bottle of Coke. They received Coke for life.

 

[AndyRosse]

Eeewww!! Thankfully no one ate it!!

 

[moon river]

OMG, I just came across this topic.

Has there been any more new info?

Just to add, I waitress at Denny''s awhile back and there was a really big A$$hole demanding his salad ''right then''!!! Well, they were unloading the truck at the time and most of the fixins were on the produce truck. I got everything I needed as quickly as I could, washed everything and cut up his salad. A few minutes passed then he errupted with a string of profanities(It was Sunday afternoon and the place was packed. Alot of small children also.) My manager and I ran to him and he had a slice of cucumber on his fork yelling "Just look what''s in my salad. A *%$#@# worm!!!!" I asked him to please calm down, refrain from cursing and be thankful it wasn''t a HALF A WORM!!!!

 

[pyramid]

http://uk.msn.com/


See link near the foot of todays MSN UK page for a Woman finds snake in broccolli, I thought this was the same news item at first!

 

[moon river]

Geez, that snake sure gets around!!

 

[ladykemma]

I agree with Mom of Two. these things happen. food comes out of a field, full of critters. yup.

 

[moon river]

Exactly. Even if veggies were grown in a lab in a controlled environment something is bound to happen. This world is too sue happy.

 

[diamondfan]

I just think we all have to open our eyes before our mouths and look at what were are putting in there!!! Sort of separate but still gross, I got a crate for my puppy from a chain pet store. I opened it and a lot of shredded paper fell out. I thought, eeuww, why would they package it like that so it makes a mess when you open it? As I was assembling it, I looked at something stuck in the metal and thought, gee, that looks a lot like a mouse body and tail. Well, it was...long dead of course, it had gotten into the package via a lovely cut out design on the box and then could not get out. It was long dead but I had touched it by mistake and there were droppings and shredded crud all over my kitchen floor. I vaccuummed and scrubbed with anti bacterial stuff and called the store, who of course offered to switch out the crate and even open it in the store to make sure it had not guests. The manager said that the warehouse had a rodent problem and that they needed to be more careful. I also thought the packaging was stupid, it was open on the front so you could see the finish of the cage but it allowed vermin in. Not smart, and I was disgusted but thank god it was not alive!

 

[moon river]

EEEEEWWWW!!!!

 

[koko]

Date: 4/16/2006 7:33:50 PM
Author: moon river
OMG, I just came across this topic.

Has there been any more new info?

Just to add, I waitress at Denny''s awhile back and there was a really big A$$hole demanding his salad ''right then''!!! Well, they were unloading the truck at the time and most of the fixins were on the produce truck. I got everything I needed as quickly as I could, washed everything and cut up his salad. A few minutes passed then he errupted with a string of profanities(It was Sunday afternoon and the place was packed. Alot of small children also.) My manager and I ran to him and he had a slice of cucumber on his fork yelling ''Just look what''s in my salad. A *%$#@# worm!!!!'' I asked him to please calm down, refrain from cursing and be thankful it wasn''t a HALF A WORM!!!!

Moon, the last that happened was my sister started getting phone calls (her name and city were in the paper) from others with similar stories, and even a letter from a gentleman (who left it on her front porch while she was gone), saying he had a piece of a worm in his Kroger Oatmeal! I don''t think she expected a stranger to actually come to her house....that kind of spooked her. Anyway, a rep. from the FDA came to interview her and said he was opening up a case (probably because Pictsweet has a pattern of this...). But I don''t think she ever heard the outcome.

 

[moon river]

They have a pattern of this??? Stuff happens I know but geez, how often

 

[VegasAngel]

I know this isnt the same thing, but the other night I steamed an artichoke. I was getting close to the heart when I lifted a leave and found a worm on it. I was so skeeved out. There is nothing worse than finding something in your food that isnt supposed to be there.

 

[diamondfan]

I had a friend who ALWAYS found stuff in her food. Bits of broken glass, a nail, etc...I finally realized it was her scam to get free food in restaurants. If the manager did not offer to comp her meal she would start saying things to make him, like she would tell all her friends not to eat there and how it was going to be on her mind whenever she went out...usually by then they would offer her not only free dinner but dessert as well!

 

[Strawdermangrl]

OH. MY. GROSS.

That pretty much sums it up.