Statement From Monster Beverage Company Regarding Lawsuit in Washington State
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CORONA, Calif., April 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A lawsuit was filed on March 28, 2011 in King County, Washington, against our company, regarding an event that occurred in March 2010. In the complaint, Mr. Vitaliy Sulzhik alleges he found a mouse in a can of Monster Energy.
We take all consumer claims very seriously and are committed to determining the truth. However, we wholeheartedly believe that this lawsuit is frivolous, unfounded and is nothing more than a shakedown.
Mr. Sulzhik has stated he drank part of a Monster Energy drink and then left the can opened and unattended for hours in his car, providing ample opportunity for a small mouse to crawl into the can. He later returned, finished the drink, and at that point allegedly found a mouse in the can.
Common sense would dictate that if a mouse had been introduced into the can at production (a virtually impossible scenario given modern production technologies) which occurred months prior to Mr. Sulzhik's consumption of the product, the mouse would have deteriorated and the product would not have been drinkable from the very first sip.
Recently, there have been spurious cases reported involving soft drinks produced by other companies. In these cases, scientists concluded that, over time, any natural foreign object would have deteriorated, rendering the taste bad and the product undrinkable.
Monster Energy products are produced at scores of independent plants around the U.S. and throughout the world. All of our products are produced and packaged under the strictest safety standards in the industry.
The 16 ounce wide mouth can in question was produced at a plant in Southern California that is owned and operated by one of the largest grocery store chains in the country and adheres to the highest quality standards.
The Monster Energy canning process involves many safeguards to prevent contamination. Importantly, while on the high speed can line, each can is turned upside down and injected with high-pressured deionized air, making it virtually impossible for any foreign object to remain in the can. Each can is then immediately filled and sealed at high speed.
Finally, the species of mouse allegedly found in the can is common in rural areas, where Mr. Sulzhik lives, and not commonly found in industrial areas where the product was manufactured.
While we usually do not discuss pending lawsuits, in this case we strongly believe that we owe it to our consumers to assure them that there is no factual basis for Mr. Sulzhik's claim and we stand behind the quality and integrity of all our products.
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