A Co Galway couple have been awarded £1,000 after telling a court of their upset at discovering a "foreign object" in a bottle of ketchup. Mrs Carmel Adams and her husband David sued H.J. Heinz Company (Ireland) Ltd after coming across the "fleshy substance" during a family meal.
She told a court yesterday it popped out on to a plate when she shook the bottle after her 12-year-old son could not get any sauce out of it. Mrs Adams, of Mountbellew, Co Galway, said the substance had the appearance of "a mouse or a finger".
She said a Heinz representative, who called to her home, described the object as "horrific" and would not even look at it. Despite an assurance that the company would have the object analysed, they never heard back from it.
The couple claimed the incident distressed and upset them, as they had already used the bottle of ketchup on previous occasions. They had suffered nausea and vomiting as a result and sued the company for negligence in failing to ensure the bottle remained free of foreign matter.
Judge James O'Sullivan granted a decree for £1,000 with £200 expenses against the company, which was not represented in Mountbellew Court yesterday.