KEIZER, Oregon -- A Keizer family said they made a disturbing find inside a package of baby yogurt they were about to feed their two-year-old daughter: maggots.
"My wife pulled out the package and just looked at it and screamed," Sonny Lorentz said. "It was literally disgusting, made me sick to my stomach, and the smell was so putrid."
Lorentz said his wife bought the four-pack of strawberry banana flavored Gerber Graduates Yogurt Blends with the foil lids in a paper package. He said there was a hole in one of the lids, and maggots were crawling out of it.
The family immediately notified the store where they bought the yogurt and a store spokesperson said the family was reimbursed $50. In addition, the rest of the shipment was pulled off store shelves as a precaution even though there was no evidence of contamination.
The store spokesperson said it would follow up with Gerber to ensure it wouldn't happen again.
The Lorentz family said a representative from Gerber came to their home to pick up the product for testing.
A spokesperson for Gerber issued the following statement:
"For over 85 years, Gerber has been trusted by parents and caregivers to help raise generations of happy, healthy babies. Our top priorities are the safety of our products and the children who consume them.
GERBER was notified of the presence of a foreign object allegedly found in Gerber Yogurt Blends Strawberry Banana. As part of our usual procedure, we are thoroughly investigating the matter.
Parents can rest assured that we take great care with every product we make. Gerber maintains strict food safety and quality procedures in all of our factories, including numerous quality checks at the different stages of our manufacturing, packaging and distribution processes. It is highly unusual that something of this nature would be found in a finished product.
We encourage parents who have questions regarding our products to contact Gerber's Parent Resource Center day or night at 1-800-4-Gerber."
