Contaminated Marie Callender's Pot Pie
Some may call it a rant, but a recent event involving a frozen Marie Callender's Chicken pot pie made me feel that this issue needed to be addressed.
Now, as far as I know the process is such that contamination by foreign matter is nearly a non-issue, but as you know, no system is perfect when humans are involved.
The contamination in this case is a human hair. Clean, sweaty, coated in Who Knows What?
A rather long and dark human hair, sealed inside the pie like a Crackerjack prize. Gross.
I contacted ConAgra, the parent company of the Marie Callender's brand. I have yet to hear a reply from their Customer Service dept. Not sure what to expect from them, but my primary question was, "How does something like this happen?"
I've spent nearly half of my working life in production, and I know the basics of a sterile line job. This is why the human hair in my food is such a mystery that I would like to solve.
Obviously, the food was inedible at that point and had to be thrown out.
We buy a few of this type each week because it's an easy meal that the granddaughter can make for herself. I am as yet undecided about whether or not to buy in the future, but for now we will not be putting any Marie Callender's in the shopping cart.
I would like to hear from any of you who may have had a similar experience.
JB.
2015 HealthySelfCures.com
Follow up: Received a personalized and apologetic email from the CS dept, but no answer to my question: "How does this happen?"
ReplyDeleteShe assured me that they maintain high quality standards, and that the manufacturing process is strictly monitored, all of which I already knew, hence the question.
Which she managed to dodge expertly.
She also stated that she would be sending a few coupons, or some such token form of compensation for my inconveniences, and after 2 weeks they have not arrived.
This is just as well, since a few coupons would be more of an insult that confirms their indifference than an actual answer to the obvious and yet-ignored question: How?
Final followup:
ReplyDeleteIt's been another 30 days and I have not received an answer to my original question, nor any "discount coupons" mentioned and promised in the initial email from Teri.
Here is the contact signature from her email if you have questions of your own:
Teri
consumeraffairs@conagrafoods.com
Consumer Affairs Representative
ConAgra Foods
Case: 62868553
1-877-CONAGRA (1-877-266-2472)
www.conagrafoods.com
Obviously, I am very concerned with this serious gap in their quality standards, but even more concerned by their apparent effort to brush it off and ignore the issue.
You should be just as concerned, and if we think alike, there won't be any Marie Callender's products in your shopping carts for a long time.