Bizarre, Society, Torts

High-Protein Pepsi: Florida Couple Claims to Find Dead Mouse in Soft Drink

180px-Pepsi_logo250px-Мышь_2Amy and Fred Denegri allege that they were a bit surprised at their Florida beach house when Fred complained about a funny taste in his Diet Pepsi and was a wee bit surprised to find a mouse in the can. We can now understand Pepsi’s old slogan: “It’s the Cola”/”Dare for More”

The FDA is now investigating and the diet mouse has been preserved. Pepsi insists that most such cases are either fraud or involve a mouse climbing into a can after it is opened.

While the couple is not planning for a lawsuit, they would have grounds. Under the common law principle of res ipsa loquitur, a jury is allowed to assume negligence where the plaintiffs can show (1) that the injury does not ordinarily occur absent negligence, (2) the object was under the exclusive control of the defendant at the time of the accident or injury, and (3) the injury is not due to the actions of the plaintiff or some other person or cause. The problem will be the second condition. Most factories are designed to move cans rapidly and in a fashion to prevent material from falling into an opening. It is extremely unlikely that a mouse could enter a can in most soft drink factories. Indeed, Justice Breyer once used the “mouse-in-a-coke-bottle” hypothetical in oral argument as an example of frivolous claims, here.

For the full story, click here.

12 thoughts on “High-Protein Pepsi: Florida Couple Claims to Find Dead Mouse in Soft Drink”

  2. This is just a drink with extra protein. It can also be a side or main course for Korean food. I guess unlike coke the acids do not eat the meat.

  3. This story reminds me of an experience that I had during High School in Skokie, Illinois, a few years ago. A couple of friends joined me at a local restaurant a few blocks away from school for our lunch. I ordered my favorite, a chicken pot pie, and as I dug into it, I saw something very scary. A set of eyes were staring back at me as I looked into the pot pie. It turns out that there was a head of a rodent (I didn’t want to look too closely at it) in the chicken pot pie. Needless to say, we immediately got up and headed out of the restaurant. The manager stopped us and asked why we were leaving without paying and I told him to look at the pot pie. As soon as he looked at it he turned white and ran into the kitchen, with my uneaten pot pie. I have never looked at a pot pie quite the same way since! I didn’t even get a chance to check out my Pepsi that day.

  4. So, did Pepsi charge them extra for the protein, like airlines are doing, or like the Bachman Turner Overdrive song says, “would you let it slide”?

  5. pardon-me, I like the art!

    T-kade’s site isn’t coming up on the link, so just google his name and look under the Disney pictures section.

  6. I was just thinking of art, pardon me. This story is an opportunity for Thomas Kinkade, the “painter” of light to start being more edgy in his work. When I see T-kade paint the dead mouse at the bottom of the Pepsi can I will believe in the Young Earth Theory, just like Mike A. does.

    Here’s a link to T-Kade’s stunning (as in the way you feel after a Tazer hit) work

    http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.Catalo

  9. O.K. Gyges, but answer me this. What happens when Cinderella finds out the dead mouse in the can was one of the coach horses and she really can’t go to the ball? What the hell will happen to this poor woman? If she doesn’t go to the ball, she doesn’t get married. In my book, that’s a cause of action, unless she’s lesbian and doesn’t live in the right state.

  10. I would argue that the second condition is not met at all. The object was under control of the plaintiff, not the defendant, at the time of injury. That is, if you agree that the time of injury is when the plaintiff is drinking the tainted beverage.

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