A musician from Parkwood claims he almost damaged his voice after finding hard objects he believed to be bones in his pakkie Lay’s chips.
Lionel Isaacs, 55, said his lus for skyfies was permy geblus when he found himself chewing on ‘harde bene’ that allegedly came out of the packet of Sweet & Smoky American BBQ Flavour Lay’s, with Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi’s face on it.
“I went to buy a big packet of the chips at a mall in Retreat after I saw it on an advert. I wanted to taste it because it’s one of the new flavours and I still made myself ready to sit in front of the TV with my chips and chocolate,” the artist explained.
But what he discovered made the crisps hard to swallow.
Lionel wysed: “The minute I bit on it I knew it was a bone, it was definitely not chips, and to top it off it was sharp! What if that bone went down my throat and damaged my vocal cords?
“I also thought to myself what else did I eat that came out of this packet?”
He decided to mail the SimbaPepsico Company about his experience, and someone came to fetch the product.
“I sent seven emails and I am still waiting for a clear response. They called me once and said they were going to give me a voucher for the money I lost, but I said no, they mustn’t decide for me,” Lionel explained.
“Also it’s not OK om iemand se mond stil te maak met nog ‘n pakkie chips se waarde nie.
“Something serious could’ve happened, but they obviously don’t feel anything because to them we are just small fry, they didn’t even ask how I am, or how my throat is and that’s because they have billions [of rands].
“I don’t know how, but I am not just going to settle for a voucher,” Lionel said, adding that he wants proper compensation.
Nonku Ndlela, a representative from Pepsico, confirmed that the company have received Lionel’s complaint and collected the sample of chips which was sent to the company’s plant for inspection.
“The sample was tested, and the laboratory results confirm that the foreign matter submitted was in fact, a hard piece of starch build-up from the slicing of potatoes during production and is not a bone,” Ndlela explained.
Ndlela said Lionel was sent the feedback on June 27.
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za