Family says dead mouse was in can of soup

Associated Press
Feb. 8, 2006 04:04 PM <!--______START TEXT OF STORY________--> NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Phyllis Ingram said her 89-year-old mother, Pearl Parkey, discovered a dead mouse in a bowl of bean with bacon soup but only after she had put it in her mouth.

"I thought it was just a ball of hair. My daughter said, 'Mama, that's a mouse,'" Ingram, who lives in Erwin about 250 miles east of Nashville, said Wednesday.

Authorities said the incident has been reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for investigation into whether the can of Campbell's soup was possibly contaminated or had been tampered with. <!-- BOXAD TABLE --> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50"> <tbody><tr> <td style="color: gray;" align="center" valign="top">advertisement</td> <td rowspan="3"></td> </tr> <tr> <td>******** language="JavaScript">OAS_AD('BoxAd')</script>
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Ingram said she bought and served the soup Jan. 26.

Campbell Soup Co. spokesman John Faulkner said the company is investigating the complaint and will examine the can and its contents, which the family has stored in a freezer.

Faulkner said it's unlikely a mouse could have gotten into the can during manufacturing. Every step of production is closely monitored and there is a USDA inspector based at the Camden, N.J., plant where the soup was made, he said.

"When we get a complaint, we take it seriously," he said. "More often than not it's explainable as something not related to manufacturing, or the complaint is bogus."

Ingram said she believes the mouse was in the can and could not have gotten into the pot of soup any other way.

"It's not like the finger that was in the Wendy's chili," she said.

Anna Ayala, 40, was sentenced last month to nine years in prison for extortion after planting a human finger in a bowl of chili at a San Jose, Calif., Wendy's restaurant, claiming it had been served to her. Her husband, Jaime Plascencia, 44, who obtained the finger from someone who lost it in an accident, was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.

Parkey's son reported the soup incident to the Unicoi County Health Department, which referred it to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Department of Agriculture spokesman Tom Womack said the department reported the incident to Food and Drug Administration officials in Nashville.

FDA spokeswoman Sandy Baxter said the matter was referred to the USDA, which is responsible for its regulation because of its meat content. USDA spokesman Steven Cohen confirmed the matter is under investigation, but could not provide further details Wednesday afternoon.

Ingram said her family was reluctant to make the situation public but said she thought the health department had notified Campbell's about the incident and the company ignored it.

"It's kind of embarrassing," she said. "My mother is a very dignified lady. Everybody around here knows her. My father was a minister."

Faulkner said the company was unaware of Ingram's claim until a reporter asked about it this week.

The family is considering hiring a lawyer for help with their complaint, but Ingram declined to say what the family wants from Campbell's.

Ingram said Parkey suffers from congestive heart failure and other ailments. Parkey has been reluctant to eat since the incident, Ingram said.

 

they should have read the label, becouse what they've is that new mouse soup, that everyone going crazy over.

but really if no fraud is involved in this case thats pretty gross.

 

WOW, all I can say is that for one campbells has better quality control than that..... If the can of soup weighed more than it should have it wouldn't have been allowed to pass. The machines would have caught it.

 

Unbefreakinglievable!!!! Top news story 2 months from now: "89 year old Nashville women sentenced to life (2 years) in prison for fraudulant claim of contaminated soup. Granddaughter says she should have paid more attention to her Ps and Qs while cooking broth."

 

I don't think the mouse would make the can heavier, since all animals are mostly water, just like soup.
Not that I belive this story.

 

Can this thread be turned into a poll so we can vote whether or not it is a legitimate or false claim??!?!

I'm putting my money on false claim.

 

Dang, Dad always said it would put hair on my chest......

I love the quote, "I just thought it was a ball of hair"

I expect to see them in my soup...

 

I smell a Rat ...er ...Mouse


Attention everyone !

Campbells introduces a new product today.

"Rodentia & Cheese Soup.....it's better than beans"

 

I have friends that found a mouse baked inside the middle of a loaf of rye bread and they never did anything about it they just wont eat that bread anymore.I can only imagine what they could have got for that one.

 

Hey, toasted vermin bread, dip it in the vermin soup and have a balanced meal! MMMM good!


Would the Hearty Eaters version have a rat?!

 

I remember the finger in the chilli story, I cant believe she got so long of a prison term! From what I remember though she had did that ebfore too. I am betting this one is a false claim too. I think the days of mice and other crap like that in foods during production has long passed.

 

It probably fell off the cabinet above the stove while they were cooking it... I hope they check the house for traces of mice before they clean it all up.

The chili finger lady deserved a long prison term for the economic damage she did to the company and also for copycats...

 

wow well i must say the mouse story is believeable. But damn how stupid can they get of not checking how much can weighs before releasing it into the market... ehhh i think is the inspector of night shift's fault.

 

Plain stupiditiy.

 

I wonder if they can check the DNA of the mouse against mouse doppings or urine in the womans home?