Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 19, 1993 TAG: 9306190174
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY W. BROWN and SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The company received the jar Friday, said Kraft spokeswoman Linda Eatherton, and would have no comments until an investigation is complete.
Meanwhile, a state official said two other jars of the same product, which state investigators took from a Vinton grocery where the Bedford woman shopped, did not contain any visible foreign objects.
The jars confiscated for analysis were the same size and type of mayonnaise, but were not from the same manufacturing lot, said Mark Tubbs.
Tubbs is director of the Division of Dairy and Foods for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which did the initial investigation.
He said his office turned its findings over to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said one of its investigators and an FBI agent will interview the woman who reported the problem.
The woman, who Tubbs wouldn't identify, told officials she bought the mayonnaise about a month ago from the Winn-Dixie store at River Park Shopping Center in Vinton. The mayonnaise in question was manufactured in Glenview, Ill.
Although no recall was ordered, none of the brand and size in question was on the store's shelves on Friday.
The state food inspector who took the initial report said he saw what appeared to be an unsealed condom in the half-filled jar. He did not remove the object or take the jar with him.
Items inspected by agents usually are confiscated, Tubbs said, but the woman had already made arrangements with Kraft to have the jar picked up.
If any tampering charges result from the investigation they could be brought either under state or federal laws, because the product crossed state lines, Tubbs said.
He said state law for the felony of tampering is punishable by five years to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
by CNB