FDA investigators had some good news and bad news for Fred DeNegri of Ormand Beach, Florida earlier this week.
The good news is that the elongated pink blob he found in a can of "funny-tasting" Diet Pepsi last July (see disgusting images) wasn't a dead mouse, contrary to his original suspicions.
The bad news is that it was, in fact, a dead frog or toad.
Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand considers "The Mouse in the Coke" and similar stories about dead animals turning up in soft drink containers among the oldest and best known food contamination rumors. There are many. In his book, Manufacturing Tales, sociologist Gary Alan Fine analyzed numerous anecdotal reports and related court cases over the years, concluding that at least some of them had to have been inspired by actual incidents.
Case in point. Mr. DeNegri and his wife are reportedly considering their legal options.
Read more:
• Couple Claims They Found Mouse in Can of Pepsi
• Frog in Pepsi Can: 'Mouse' in Diet Pepsi Can Was Frog, FDA Says
• Document: Full Text of FDA Report
• Pepsi Statement on Frog in Diet Pepsi
Comments
Mr. Emery: I rely on you to DISPROVE things like this so that I can continue to consume highly processed food and beverages absent any fear of being grossed out… You have failed me. Yuck.
I know I won’t drink out of a can anymore.
Um…can I have a glass with that… YUCK!
I live Florida. The little green tree frogs can get into some very odd places. I have found their poor desiccated bodies where I could not figure out how they got there. Look on the bright side the acid simply turn the protein into to a gelatinous mass. Degusting–YES!
You want to worry. Check out how many spiders you swallow in your sleep.
This is in fact gross but unfortunately all the safety steps that are in place can’t be perfect. Something like this is bound to happen. I my self am a pepsi employee and if you saw how safe and clean they actually are in the plant you would say that this really is a one in a million chance.
I remember the the supposed “needle in a Pepsi can” hoax a short while ago. The local news showed a video proving that during bottling a Pepsi can is left uncovered for an infinitesimal amount of time. Less than a second if memory serves. I’m leaning towards product tampering done by the “victim”.
Lydia–a voice of reason at last!