PepsiCo offered an interesting defense to the mouse in Mountain Dew lawsuit -- their products are so bad for you that the acids in the soda would have dissolved the mouse into nothing before the consumer could have possibly opened the can of soda and found the dead mouse inside.
Roland Ball said he purchased a Mountain Dew from a vending machine and began to drink the can when he "tasted something foul" and spit out the soda, reports KSL TV. Ball said he poured the contents of the can into a Styrofoam cup and discovered the remains of a mouse.
But an expert hired by Pepsi says this is impossible.
Dr. Lawrence D. McGill says that within a week of a mouse being submerged in a fluid with the acidity of Mountain Dew, the mouse would be unrecognizable as the calcium in its bones would disintegrate, the abdominal structure would rupture, and the cranial cavity would also rupture, reports KSL.
The mouse would basically become jelly.
The can of Mountain Dew at issue was produced in August 2008. Ball says he drank the can in November 2009. In this span of time, Pepsi argues that there is no way that the mouse Ball produced could have possibly been inside the can for a week, let alone more than a year -- suggesting that Ball is faking his lawsuit.
Ball is seeking $50,000 in damages in a Madison County court. However, his lawsuit may have gotten a lot more complicated (and expensive) as he may now need a team of experts to combat Pepsi's.
Roland Ball may have been looking to make a quick buck at Pepsi's expense. He may have thought he could cow the giant beverage company into a settlement with the threat of negative publicity of a dead mouse in its products. What he may not have expected is an affidavit from a scientist essentially calling him a liar. Ball can now either go all-in in his mouse in Mountain Dew lawsuit and hire a team of experts of his own, or back out.
Related Resources:
- Find a Chicago Personal Injury Attorney (FindLaw)
- Mountain Dew offers odd defense in mouse charge (MSNBC)
- Product Liability: Background (FindLaw)
- Novartis Recall of Over-the-Counter Drugs Due to Mix-Up (FindLaw's Chicago Personal Injury Law Blog)
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