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Dead frog found in a Diet Pepsi can

The FDA has now confirmed that the disgusting sludge a man poured from a freshly opened Pepsi can was a dead frog or toad.

By Bryan NelsonFri, Sep 04 2009 at 6:06 AM EST
 6

Photo: qnr/Flickr
Fred DeNegri was grilling in his backyard when he cracked open a can of Diet Pepsi, took a thirsty gulp and immediately started gagging. The flavor of his Pepsi was rank and the texture was thick like slime. He immediately took it to a sink and shook out the contents until something resembling "pink linguini" slid out, followed by "dark stuff," said Fred's wife, Amy DeNegri.
 
Despite persistent shaking, a heavy object remained inside the can. Completely disgusted, the DeNegris immediately called poison control and the FDA, and the can was taken in for lab testing to identify the source of the sludgy mess.
 
Now those results are in-- and it appears that the object inside the can was a dead frog or toad. "The animal was lacking internal organs normally found in the abdominal and thoracic cavity," the report notes.
 
The report prompted the FDA to do a thorough investigation at the bottling plant where the can was filled, but the plant came up clean. No adverse conditions or traces of amphibian residue were detected, and no determination was made as to when or how the frog got into the DeNegri's Pepsi can.
 
Covering their own backs, Pepsi immediately issued a statement. "The speed of our production lines and the rigor of our quality control systems make it virtually impossible for this type of thing to happen in a production environment. In fact, there never has been even a single instance when a claim of this nature has been traced back to a manufacturing issue," a spokesperson told CNN. 
 
While Pepsi would like the story to dissolve, the DeNegris are croaking for answers. They are currently seeking legal advice as to how best to pursue charges. "I want to see Pepsi fess up to it and compensate my husband for the negative publicity they have caused," Amy demanded.
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Related Topics: Contamination, FDA, Food Safety, Healthy Eating

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anonymous
Guest 09/20/2009 16:42 PM

What is wrong with everyone?! Has the whole world truly been brainwashed by the greed of American corporations? Even if the can was tampered with, we should take a strong message from this incident. The need to place an amphibian in a soda can to raise concern should be an alarm in itself, let alone if the carcass did in fact originate from the plant. The degradation of our food systems for the fattening of a small amount of pocketbooks is disgusting and needs to stop!

anonymous
Spud 09/05/2009 14:29 PM

Anybody who has been to a bottling plant knows this is not possible. Cans are washed and rinsed upside down with high pressure water just before they are turned right side up , filled and a lid seamed on all at over 1000 cans a minute. No time for a frog with no intrnal organs to jump into the can. Hope these people serve time for trying to rip off the rest of us consumers.

anonymous
Anonymous 09/05/2009 00:35 AM

wondering what negative publicity pepsi caused that could in any way affect these people. If anything it hurts pepsi... not them... and unless there was some medical condition caused by the incident... the mental pain and anguish will teach you a lesson be careful what you are putting in your mouth...

anonymous
Anonymous 09/04/2009 18:38 PM

Certainly the customer was wronged with having had to consume putrefied frog, and is probably entitled to some compensation. But there is something wrong with this statement. The negative publicity hurts Pepsi, not the customer.

anonymous
Anonymous 09/04/2009 13:36 PM

Will he suffer any long term ill effects? What did poison control & the FDA tell them? Didn't they feel the heavy item before opening the can? Didn't the rank odor hit their nose before it was consumed? How much would they like Pepsi to compensate them for - a billion dollars?
I agree that it is disgusting, but demand Pepsi "fess up"? Fess up to what? From the sounds of it, it sounds like a sick, twisted employee placed it in the can.

ecpdancer
ecpdancer 09/04/2009 11:26 AM

I never liked Pepsi before (too sweet) but that is so gross. That would be traumatizing to me. blech.

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