A man finds a piece of plastic in his frozen burger. He has already swallowed another one. He is disappointed by the supermarket's reaction.
Aarau – As is well known, taste can be debated. Not really about food safety. But this is exactly what caused a real dispute between a family man from Switzerland and the supermarket giant Migros. After the 26-year-old took a few bites of his frozen burger, he complained of pain when swallowing. Shortly afterwards he pulled a yellow plastic piece out of his mouth; he had probably already swallowed another.
The supermarket's reaction? A verbal apology and the almost ten francs he had paid for the patties. “I expected a little more from a million-dollar company.”
Foreign bodies are so dangerous: Man discovers plastic parts in burger and ends up in hospital
Production errors occur more frequently during production. Foreign bodies or even uninvited living guests can get lost in food and initially reach the store unnoticed. This was also the case with the 26-year-old, who chose a frozen pack of burger patties from the Swiss food giant Migros' own brand. “While I was eating, it suddenly hurt terribly when I swallowed,” he reported
to 20min.ch.
Shortly afterwards he had the reason for this in his hand: a yellow, hard piece of plastic.
As the evening progressed, he felt increasingly worse: the sore throat was accompanied by stomach cramps and hoarseness. According to the online health guide
MSD Manual,
these are typical reactions to foreign bodies. Depending on where the foreign body gets stuck in the body, cramps and pain, nausea and vomiting may occur.
If the object gets stuck in the esophagus, a dangerous swallowing disorder (dysphagia) could result, which persists even after the object reaches the stomach. If a sharp object punctures the esophagus, stomach or intestines, life-threatening inflammation or internal bleeding could occur. The man doesn't even want to imagine that his son could have gotten the contaminated burger. “His esophagus is much narrower than mine.”
Supermarket man “extremely disappointed” after burger incident
Later, the emergency room at Aarau Cantonal Hospital examined him for internal bleeding using a special camera. Fortunately, none were found. It also didn't require any surgical intervention. He previously complained to the supermarket branch. “They apologized there and refunded me the purchase price of 9.20 francs,” said the 26-year-old.
Despite a medical certificate and the plastic part present, a further meeting with the supermarket manager only resulted in a refund of the cost of the product. According to the man's statement, there was no written apology or symbolic compensation. “I am extremely disappointed with Migros,” said the father of the family about the incident at the end of March this year.
The supermarket chain defended itself: It apologized in writing for the damage caused, according to a statement to
20min.ch
. However, after checking, the customer's demands could not be met because the compensation for pain and suffering demanded by Migros is not provided for in Swiss law. Only in the case of “serious physical or psychological injuries following an accident” will this be paid upon court order, according to the company.
Supermarket explains itself – and has Swiss law behind it
The company is right. “In fact, in Switzerland, unlike in Germany, there is no compensation for pain and suffering. Our private law provides for claims for damages or satisfaction (the Swiss equivalent of compensation for pain and suffering),” explains a spokesman for Swiss consumer protection when asked by
IPPEN.MEDIA
. “The key point is that the consumer must be able to prove the damage in both cases.” Companies often respond with compensation out of goodwill.
For a claim to compensation under Article 47 of the Code of Obligations, there would have to be death or bodily harm. The risk of bodily harm has probably not been realized, “which is why a claim for compensation has little chance of success,” said the consumer protection spokesman. (rku)