This started back in April. I just finished corresponding with a friend of mine that’s an attorney that had another attorney check into my complaint to see if I could SUE them. It started with me sending them this statement on their customer comment’s page:
Posted on Campbells.com comments on 4.18.10
*I found a metal sliver in my mouth after heating up a can of Family Size Cream of Chicken Soup. I actually reheated it in the microwave after heating it in a pan the day before, the pan is completely teflon lined, and I added three frozen LambWeston Home Browns patties to the heating soup.
I discovered the sliver when I had been spooning the soup into my mouth and started to swallow. Something felt like it scratched the roof of my mouth. I tried rinsing the area with warm water to see if anything dislodged, even spitting into a cup to see if something was in it. Nothing, yet as I tried to move my tongue in a swallowing motion again, I got the scratch feeling on the roof of my mouth. I took at flash light and peered into my tongue and mouth in the mirror and could see nothing. Once again when I tried swallowing, I could feel the scratch. I finally scraped the back part of my tongue with my fingernail and dislodged the metal sliver from my tongue. I have saved it, the can and lid from the soup, and the package the homebrowns came in. This sliver is big enough that I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had I swallowed it, and if there were more in the soup.
Yes, I would love to hear from someone in your company. this is not a get rich quick hoax on my part, I’m concerned about the consequences and want to know where the sliver came from.*
I got a call from them two days later. I missed the first call and picked up voice mail. They gave me a number, etc., I spoke with a gent, “This call is recorded, blah, blah, blah. Please explain what happened.” I did. Just a repeat of the initial comment. He told me the company was going to want the sliver and they would send me a package to send it to them in and they would be sending me something for my time and trouble…a gift. I told him I had the can, the remainder of the contents, the lid, and everything in the freezer. He told me I could just throw it all away, all they wanted was the sliver. Umnhhhnnnhhh…I still have it all in the freezer.
So…I did receive a bubble envelope with a small zip lock plastic bag and a letter from the Consumer Response Center – Donna Thorman – it went like this:
Thank you for taking the time to contact Campbell Soup Company. I’m sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience with our Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup. We are genuinely concerned when a consumer reports finding anything unexpected in one of our products.
At Campbell, our number one priority is to delight our consumers. All possible precautions are taken to ensure the safety and quality of each of our products. Electronic and mechanical aids are used throughout the cooking and packaging process. Ingredients are inspected carefully several times before use and are protected during processing. At each filling line, employees continually monitor the finished product to maintain the highest possible quality. Your comments have been forwarded to our quality team so they too are aware and may take any appropriate and necessary action.
At Campbell Soup Company, we have worked hard to earn our reputation for providing wholesome, safe products. I appreciate you letting us know about your experience. I have forwarded your comments to our quality team so they too may benefit from your input and take any appropriate and necessary action.
In order to make a thorough analysis, it would help us to have the exhibit for examination. For your convenience, please return the exhibit in the enclosed envelope.
Please accept the enclosed coupon with our apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced. The coupon can be redeemed for your next purchase of Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup or for any product in the Campbell family of brands including V8, Prego, Pace and Pepperidge Farm.
Thank you again for contacting us. Please contact our Consumer Response Center or visit Campbell’s website if you need further assistance.
Sincerely,/s/
REDUNDANT that she told me twice – in back to back paragraphs – that she had forwarded my comments…
Totally absurd that she sent me some coupons to buy more Campbell’s Soup or products. I was hot. I didn’t expect a free trip to Aruba, only UB Poker would do that. I sent the sliver back in a registered mailer and a registered letter to Miss I-don’t-give-a-shit-I work-for-Campbells.
The sliver:
This is the letter I sent back:
April 27, 2010
RE: 4649838A
Ms. Donna Thorman
Campbell’s
Consumer Response Center
One Campbell Place
Camden NJ 08103-1701
Dear Donna,
In this letter you will find several enclosures:
1) A copy of your letter to me regarding the return.
2) Four Campbell’s Soup coupons.
3) My statement submitted online to your comments section.
4) A picture of the sliver next to a dime.
I have received the packet you sent for me to send you the metal sliver I found in a can of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup on April 18, 2010. For your information, the soup coupons were like a slap in the face. If I felt comfortable buying and eating Campbell’s, I don’t need a $2 coupon to entice me to do that. In essence, for my time and energy to report a possible life threatening problem with your soup, or the can it was packaged in, you are blowing me off by your gift of four coupons.
To me, the sliver is a very serious issue, and has caused me more than a few days of stress in wondering if there were more and I happened to swallow them. Since you have made this into a frivolous joke, I will be happy to post about it on my blog: http://table-tango.pokerworks.com/ and will help carry it further by mentioning it to family and friends whenever Campbell’s is brought up in conversation.
The envelope with the sliver will be mailed the same day this letter is mailed, in hopes that what happened to me will not happen to someone else and you will take extra precautions to protect the consumer that is buying your product, which incidentally, that consumer will not be me.
Sincerely,
Linda R. Geenen
Enc: 6
The worst of this whole scenario is that I bought the soup for Riot, my six year old grandson. He was staying with me and had been sick and not interested in food. On the day that I put it together (with the hashbrowns) and heated it, he turned his nose up at it, saying, “It smells yucky!”
I’m really glad he did. I put the soup in the refrigerator and heated some of it the following day for myself, that’s when I discovered the sliver. If Riot had eaten that damned thing, I have no idea where we would’ve ended up, but I know it’s not a pretty thought. Same for me, if I swallowed it. I believe I got really, really lucky.
Dated May 12th, I got a letter from Karl Bissey, Special Procedure Representative, stating that they had received the sliver and it had been submitted to their laboratory for examination, they would get back to me.
On June 7th, I got a letter:
Thank you for your patience during the investigation of the incident you reported. Our lab has completed its examination of the object you submitted. We wanted to share the results as soon as they were available.
Our food technologists have determined the object to be a piece of can opener shaving. Since the can was not received for examination, the soucre of this can opener shaving could not be positively determined. However, due to our manufacturing procedures and practices, plus its magnetic quality, it would be extremely improbable that this object was in the product when it left the manufacturing facility.
At Campbell Soup Company, product quality and consumer safety are top priorities. By bringing your comments to our attention, you have helped support our high quality standards.
On behalf of Campbell Soup Company, I want to say how much we value you as a consumer. Please accept the enclosed coupons with our apologies for any concern or inconvenience you may have experienced. The coupons can be redeemed to replace the Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup you have purchased or to try another product from the Campbell family of brands including V8, Prego, Pace and Pepperidge Farm.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Lenhart
OK, my friends, do you see the flaw here? They are so concerned that none of them figured out that I had purchased CREAM OF CHICKEN soup. The people behind Campbell’s Soup must all be mushrooms, feed them shit, leave them in the dark, and they think MUSHROOM.
I did look at the can, I’ve never seen a can lid come off with jagged edges like that but didn’t think much of it at the time. The can opener was a fairly new one and none of the other cans I’ve opened have any issues like that one had.
The next order of piss off is that they sent me five fucking $3 off coupons. WTF is that all about? Can they read? Apparently not as I had already returned their cheesy coupons in a previous mailing.
The next issue is that, of course, they didn’t receive the can, they told me to throw it all away, and the mailer they sent me was only big enough for a small, flat item. MOI thinks they are just covering their ass on all bases…”just throw it away, we don’t need it.”
I’m amazed that they aren’t more concerned about the can. After all they must either manufacture their own or buy from a major company, so what happens if someone gets a splinter and dies from it or ends up in the hospital and it’s discovered as a cause of death? Do they just walk away then too. Gee, the guy that died didn’t have a magnet attached to his colon so he couldn’t tell he ate a sliver until it was too late.
My attorney friend doesn’t handle this type of case but he presented it to someone that does. This was his reply:
The bad news–based on what I got back from another firm I contacted they
think that Campbell’s will claim that the sliver was caused by the opener
you used to open the can or that slivers are a known risk of opening metal
cans and that you should have used more care to check for it–which is all
bullshit, but that is what they will say. That, together with the limited
damages that can be proven probably would not make it worthwhile.
Here’s my reasoning for wanting to SUE them. To make them pay attention. To make them realize that throwing out a few coupons isn’t the answer to life threatening issues. To make them aware that they need to be responsible, from square one, not after the fact. That even if there monitoring devices in soup production are top of the line, perhaps their packaging controls aren’t.
If this post keeps Campbells from making even one sale, I’m happy. I won’t buy anything from them again, nor any of their partner products. If anyone wants five $3 coupons, send me an email with your mailing address – first come first served.
the ingredients in a can of campbell’s soup are probably much more dangerous to your health than the sliver of metal, so just be thankful you didn’t actually eat it.
I worked for a food company — American Sugar at the time.
I handled a lot of these claims. I’d have to fill a 50# bag with all kinds of samples and any premium offers we had like little 3-transistor radios — hey this was the 60’s. Anyway, I show up on their doorstep and be apologetic.
In my case it was usually burned sugar that had been scraped of the cauldron. The other popular item was fish worms — hard, gross, and sugar coated. We either had a lot of fishermen in the plant or…
Sugar, whatever or coupons get the companies off the hook — typically. Restitution provided. Most courts will throw claims out after that. It takes some kid in a wheelchair for them to proceed further. Your coupons are probably coded so they can substantiate they “paid” you.
Soup wise, shop at Aldi or buy the private label. Most of that soup comes from H. J. Heinz or did in my day. All private label either comes from the same production lines as the premium brands or from an often better boutique cannery that is as good as the premium brand. Yes, there are private labels with crap but that’s easily discerned. I mention Aldi because they have no national brands except as specials. They’ve good buyers who have leverage and their label is coming from the industry names.
If you know somebody with a micrometer, check thickness against the lid. Is the item tin coated or stainless? You’ll be able to figure out if they’re blowing smoke. Won’t do much good though but you will have the satisfaction of pulling on their chain.
Meanwhile, meet my can opener: http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Good-Grips-Smooth-Opener/dp/B000079XW2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1283691374&sr=8-1
Ken, I had a can opener just like that back a few years ago. Liked it a lot and not even sure where I bought it, then one day it blew up or something happened that I threw it away due to mechanical failure. I now find myself steering more towards cans that have the pull tops rather than requiring a can opener. Soup is not on my weekly food plan due to lack of desire – even before this incident – now it’s gone to the bottom of the list, and Campbells has gone to the ‘never buy it again’ even if was desperate for a soup fix.
Hi,
I actually was just eating campbells soup and saw this black thing that looked like hair sticking out of one of the noodles. I pulled it out to see that it was a tiny piece of metal. I didn’t know what to do or think so I googled it and it led me to your site. Am i supposed to even do anything about it?
Definitely! Send them a bitch email, include a picture of the lable of the can if you, the batch #, etc., and a picture of the metal. I have never bought a can of campbells soup since that day and never will again.