Kellog's Cereal Bug Surprise

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http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/04/22/story/0000082692

 

Cereal

bug

surprise

sparks

crusade

against

Kellogg's

 

By

Tsai

Ting-I

STAFF REPORTER

 

A Taipei City resident

complained yesterday

about finding a " few

hundred " insects in a

box of " Mueslix "

produced by Kellogg's,

a famous US cereal

company. The victim

is asking for NT$2

million in

compensation.

Kellogg's issued a

press release saying

that the company is

" very sorry, " but also

insisted that it must

investigate the case

before accepting any

responsibility.

 

Taipei City Councilor

Chen Hsueh-Fen

(3¯3·ªâ) held a press

conference as a

representative of the

unfortunate customer,

identified as Miss Wei.

 

Wei bought the box of

cereal, which showed

an expiration date of

May 25, on April 9.

She discovered " a lot

of bugs creeping

around " when she

attempted to pour out

some of the contents

of the box.

 

" We are looking for

Kellogg's to respect

the need to protect

customers. We will

donate the

compensation to

charity if we get any, "

said Wei's

representative.

 

Kellogg's has taken

some of the cereal as

a sample for chemical

examination. The

company claims that

there is no problem

with the production

process but that

Taiwan's humidity

could be a cause of the

problem. It says that

it will accept

responsibility if the

problem is found to be

the result of a defect

with the merchandise

itself.

 

" The bugs might be

caused by Aftatoxin,

which could lead to

cancer. If the condition

is serious, we would

ask Kellogg's to recall

all unsold boxes of

Mueslix and we might

even officially force

the company to close

its business in

Taiwan, " said Kuo

Chuan-nan (3¢¥?¨k),

a Taipei City

Government consumer

protection official.

 

" We want to ask the

public to take its

consumer protection

rights seriously.

Western companies

pay high compensation

when they are held

liable, " said Taipei

councilor, Chen Hsueh

Fen (3¯3·ªâ).

 

Under the Consumer

Protection Law

(®ø¶OªÌ«OÅ@ªk),

victims in this kind of

case are entitled to

three times the

product price in

compensation.