“The only kind of seafood I trust is the fish stick, a totally featureless fish that doesn’t have eyeballs or fins.” — Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist)
For the past ten years I have always enjoyed a somewhat traditional fish dinner on Saturday evening. A popular brand of sole fillet marketed and produced by High Liner Foods Incorporated caught my attention and I had remained a faithful customers ever since. The portion of fish offered in the popular blue and white packaging serves two people adequately. It was always an easy and tasty meal to prepare.
Quality Concern Suspected
Recently however I noticed that the overall quality of the fillet itself had deteriorated somewhat from the superb product I have come to know and love. One month ago a goodly portion of the fillet contained a few bits and pieces of fish bones and other waste product. This surprised me and I thought nothing of it at the time. After all, I believed this was a reputable company whose advertising company touted quality, good tasting fish.
One week later I discovered that over fifty percent of a recently purchased fillet I was eating contained a larger portion of fish bones and other debris. The fillet was more suitable for a feline pallet than for human consumption. Shards of fish bones, entrails and other unknown detriment seemed to ooze onto my plate. Needless to say I threw the portion of fish in the garbage.
No Warnings Posted on Package
The outside of the packaging contained a corporate website and email address a person could write in order to issue a formal complaint or praise for the product. I emailed my complaint and included the name of the product, the package size and the Lot Number which identified the case lot the fish was processed in. I hoped that by providing this information the company would be able to identify the source of the “problem”.
I recently received a letter from the company’s Consumer Response Representative. The letter was apologetic in tone and expressed the corporate concern for my plight. The company was “most concerned to learn of my experience.” They were as contrite and polite as possible.
Quality Checks Carried Out
I was reassured that the company performed numerous quality checks in the production process to ensure quality and that “the company makes every effort to eliminate bones in our fish”. However “due to inherent characteristics of fish we cannot guarantee (the) complete removal” of bones in the fish. I was informed that the bones are “impossible to eliminate completely”.
The letter also added that “because bones are natural to fish, seafood manufacturers are not required to warn about the possible presence of bones.” In essence, the bones might or might not be there be there and it’s up to the consumer to watch out for a potential problem should it happen to occur. End of story. The responsibility was now thrown into my lap.
Free Product Coupons
The letter thanked me for my email and offered me three free product coupons for my efforts. The company hoped I would continue to be a faithful consumer of their product and continue to be one of their valued customers.
I found it interesting that the product quality had been superb for such a long stretch of time. Suddenly its apparent transformation into cat fodder was not the fault of the manufacturers. It was now my responsibility to assume all the risk for my personal safety while consuming their product.
Product Safety Compromised
The current economic situation might be responsible for higher than normal unemployment and job insecurity but customer safety and product quality should never be compromised. Customers should be made aware of any hidden dangers lurking inside the packaging of food products they purchase. It makes good business sense to go beyond the basics and protect those people who have proven to be supporting customers over the years.
I have now changed my Saturday night supper menu. I’ve discovered that ground chicken chili served with kidney beans, diced yellow onion and tomato soup also works for my palate. The only threat I face now comes from eating too much chili. To date no chicken bones have been discovered!
