There has been news about fake food or food treated with industrial chemicals almost daily in the last couple of years which makes one wonder what’s proper food.
I have been taking Quaker Instant Oatmeal for over a year totaling several cans now. I’ve just come across a brand new can which I bought from Wellcome that smells a little like a stale rat-infested room.
I don’t want to simply bring it back to Wellcome for an exchange. But should I send it back to Quaker’s distributor or the Consumer Council?
This time is easy when one could smell the problem, but what if the problem can’t be seen, smelled or tasted? Makes me wonder whether one should eat anything for a prolong period of time even for eating something as wholesome as oatmeal.
Update (19/01/05 15:18) : After a call to the distributor, they jotted down the date and place of purchase and they came over this morning and replaced the can for us. Not a bad service. We’ll see how the new can tastes.
It could have been rice bugs http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/troprice/Rice_Bug.htm. Had your oatmeal been treated with industrial chemicals they wouldn’t be there.
Wellcome would gladly replace your can of oatmeal, ‘cos it’s more trouble to tell you to go away. No point contacting the distributor: they’ll probably just tell you to take it back to Wellcome. The CC will ask you to approach the shop first.
Update: M called the distributor late in the afternoon and they told M that they would come over in person within the next few days to replace the can for us in order to find out what the problem was. We’ll see how long they’ll actually take.