Mouse in can claim riles Pepsi

A legal battle between PepsiCo and an Illinois man who claims to have found a mouse inside a can of Mountain Dew has led to a fresh round of health concerns about the sparkling green beverage.

The dispute started in 2008 when Ronald Ball filed a complaint claiming that he found a dead mouse inside a can of Mountain Dew, one of PepsiCo’s most popular soft drink brands. Mr Ball became violently ill and vomited before pouring the can’s contents into a cup and then sending it PepsiCo, according to the complaint. He is seeking $75,000 in damages for “permanent pain and mental anguish” he suffered.

PepsiCo, which maintains that the allegations have no merit, appears to have made matters worse with its response.

The company hired Lawrence McGill, a veterinary pathologist, to examine the mouse and determine if it could have snuck into the Mountain Dew can during the bottling process. He found the mouse was born after the soda was already bottled and that if it had been submerged in the Dew for that long, the beverage’s acidity would have turned the mouse into jelly.

“If a mouse is submerged in a fluid with the acidity of Mountain Dew, after four to seven days in the fluid the mouse will have no calcium in its bones and bony structures, the mouse’s abdominal structure will rupture and its cranial cavity (head) is also likely to rupture,” according to Mr McGill’s affidavit, he also argued that since the can

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