Woman finds possible rodent head in beans

She questioned the company about what happened to the rest of the mouse.

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

SALT LAKE CITY — If Marianne Watson follows Wal-Mart’s advice, she might be keeping what could be a rodent head frozen in her freezer for the next two years.

The Lehi resident found the remnant Sunday in a can of green beans that she bought from a Wal-Mart in American Fork.

Watson, 49, was preparing lunch for her family when she noticed something unusual in the pan.

“I’m queasy just talking about it,” she said. “Thank goodness it ended up on the top and not the bottom, so I didn’t serve it to them.”

When Watson called the Wal-Mart store Sunday, she said a manager told her to put the item in a bag in her freezer but that it might take up to two years for the matter to be resolved.

“They just said that they didn’t want me to bring it in because they can be accused of tampering,” said Watson.

Investigating

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth on Monday said, “Food safety is a top priority, and we are investigating this situation thoroughly.”

Galberth said Wal-Mart had contacted the supplier, Arkansas-based Allen Canning, and was working with that company. She declined to say whether other Allen products had been removed from the shelves of the American Fork store and referred all other questions to Allen.

A representative from Allen who was designated to talk with The Salt Lake Tribune did not return calls, but someone from Allen did contact Watson by phone late Monday, after she had talked with The Tribune.

Watson said she was told that the rodent head probably got into the beans while they were in the field, and not while they were being processed in a factory.

“I asked about [what happened to] the remaining parts of the mouse, and they told me, ‘Anything is possible, but if that was the case, we’d expect more phone calls,’” said Watson.

“Having been raised as a farmer’s daughter, I have some compassion for the company,” she added, noting that Allen offered her a check for $100 out of a “gesture of good will.”

Watson told The Tribune she was concerned that similar cans of Allen products were still on the shelves at Wal-Mart, even though the caller from Allen told her that items with the same batch number were being removed. When Watson returned to the store Monday afternoon, she confirmed that none of the batch in question was on the shelves.

One question neither representatives from Allen nor Wal-Mart could answer for Watson was whether similar Allen items would be pulled from other Wal-Mart stores.