Fungus in fruit juice bottle

Little did he know, the strange taste in the tomato juice he was drinking with his daughter came from fungus growing at the bottom of the carton.

Photos of mysterious objects found in a carton of Malee tomato juice go viral over the weekend. The fruit juice maker later confirms it was fungus and offers apology along with clarifications to a customer, who only discovered it when he almost emptied the carton. (Pantip.com photos from Kathatorn Assawajiratthikorn)

FOOD SAFETY

Malee apologises for fungus-tainted juice

29/07/2014
Online Reporters

Malee Sampran Plc, the maker of Malee fruit juices, has apologised after a customer found fungus in a carton of tomato juice.

Photos of the fungus found inside the Malee 100% juice carton were posted on Thai online forum Pantip.com Saturday by a member identified later as Kathatorn Assawajiratthikorn, deputy chief of Channel 7's news department.

Mr Kathatorn told the Isra News Agency he bought the tomato juice from a department store and had almost emptied it when the fungus emerged while squeezing out the carton's last few drops. He then cut open the package and discovered what he said looked animal skin.

 "Later I thought it was probably some kind of fungus because after I dried it in the sun, it appeared wilted. If it was rubber, the condition should remain the same."

Malee said in a statement posted to its website that the fungus could have been caused by a "micro leak," or tiny puncture in the package. Air could get in, but juice couldn't escape. The oxygen could have encouraged the growth of microbes inside the tomato juice carton, the company said.

Malee speculated the puncture might have occurred during transport or a retail employee might have dropped the carton.

Malee Sampran representatives came to Mr Kathatorn's home Sunday afternoon to offer an apology and gave him Malee fruit-juice products. Mr Kathatorn refused to take the complimentary goods, saying he only wanted to know the facts behind the contaminated juice and press for responsibility from the company.

The company offered to take Mr Kathatorn and his daughter, who also drank the juice, to hospital for a medical checkup. However, Mr Kathatorn declined, saying his health and that of his daughter were still normal.

Malee staff took the mysterious objects found in the juice for examination and confirmed it was fungus on Monday.  

Mr Kathatorn said he did not receive any form of compensation from the company as he wanted this case to be example of a company remedying a problem in the name of public interest and to prevent a repeat of the episode.

The statement said Malee has been using "aseptic filling" methods for 10 years and its factories are certified by GMP, HACCP and Halal and inspected regularly. The company randomly checks samples taken from juice products released in the same stock to ensure customers' confidence, it said.

The local fruit juice producer said it deeply and sincerely apologised for what happened and thanked Mr Kathatorn for giving his feedback to allow further improvements.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/retail/423080/malee-apologises-for-fungus-tainted-juice

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