Man Sues Over Mouse in His Energy Drink Can

by Jason Best, Posted Apr 1st 2011 @ 4:00PM

Monster Energy Drink Photo: NickNguyen, Flickr

Ok, if this doesn't sound like an April Fool's Day joke, what does? "Man Sues Monster Energy Drinks for Putting a Dead Mouse in His Can."

We didn't want to end up with our, um, tail getting pulled, so we called up Reed Yurchak, who was reported as the attorney in the case, and asked him if it was true.

The short answer is...gross.

It turns out that Yurchak's client, 19-year-old Vitaliy Sulzhik, claims that he purchased a can of the hyper-caffeinated beverage last year from a local supermarket in Des Moines, Washington. (Not Iowa, folks, as has been reported.) Sulzhik was looking to get his Monster buzz on; instead, what he says he ended up with was a mouthful of...mouse.

The rigor mortis-ed rodent had somehow met its end at the bottom of the can. Sulzhik claims that he immediately lost his lunch; he eventually turned the can, mouse and all, over to Yurchak, who sent it to a local lab.

Yurchak says that he's spent almost a year trying to get the makers of Monster to own up to the dirty deed.

"It's one of those situation where you wouldn't want it to have to come to this," Yurchak tells Slashfood. "And it wouldn't have if we'd gotten any sort of response from the company. But they just kept stonewalling."

But the company has responded publicly, pointing out that Yurchak left the opened can unattended in his car, leaving plenty of time for a mouse to crawl into the drink.

The statement reads in part:

Common sense would dictate that if a mouse had been introduced into the can at production (a virtually impossible scenario given modern production technologies) which occurred months prior to Mr. Sulzhik's consumption of the product, the mouse would have deteriorated and the product would not have been drinkable from the very first sip.

The suit Yurchak filed on his client's behalf seeks "reasonable compensation" for the incident, though Yurchak wouldn't elaborate. He says that ever since Sulzhik found himself swigging the Mickey, he's developed a fear of packaged foods.

As he was preparing the lawsuit, Yurchak claims that he was contacted by a woman who said she'd discovered a dead mouse in her can of Monster a few years ago. The "reasonable compensation" she received from the company: a free case of Monster.

If claims like this keep piling up, at the very least it would seem it's time to change Monster's slogan. "Unleash the Beast," indeed.

Filed Under: Food News, Drinks
Tags: monster energy drinks, mouse in can, mouse in can lawsuit

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-01-2011 @4:18PM Gary said... I call Shenanigans. Other sites that are running the story showed a picture of said mouse in the can but the can was completely cut open, which means the mouse could have clearly been put there by the guy suing. Would have been much more convincing if the whole top of the can was not removed.
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4-01-2011 @4:47PM Jordan Colone said... Yuck!
Yuck!
Yuck!
I would definitely be contacting the company too if this happened. It reminds me of hTTp://Bit.lY/Key2Free If a company messes up like this, they should be notified. And any good company would welcome the feedback, including the complaints. And to rectify the situation, they should offer product, money or something as compensation! I can't blame the guy for not wanting packed foods now.

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4-03-2011 @7:46PM Chris said... When I was stationed in the USAF in the early 70's, we used to buy our 12 oz cokes in wooden case flats. I had a mouse in one of the bottles. I called the local coke distributor and let them know, but I didn't ask them for anything. They asked me if I would leave it on my front porch for them to pick up, and I said sure. When I returned home from the base, there were 5 cases of cokes on the porch.

Stuff happens in any food process. My grandfather was a butcher and former FDA meat inspector at the slaughter houses. You wouldn't believe the stories he told us growing up!
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4-03-2011 @11:21PM Jerry said... Mouse will easily fit into the opening of the can:

http://www.mouse-in-can.com/#

No mouse was harmed in the making of this video!!

Federal Way man sues Monster Energy Drink maker over mouse in can

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/fwm/news/118882444.html

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4-04-2011 @12:47AM Jerry said... Mouse will easily fit into the opening of the can.

YouTube link broken, found video at this site:

http://www.mouse-in-can.com/#

No mouse was harmed in the making of this video!!

Federal Way man sues Monster Energy Drink maker over mouse in can

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/fwm/news/118882444.html

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4-04-2011 @7:56PM shadekitty said... I found something in my can of monster (not a mouse) and simply asked the flight attendant to throw it away - not thinking about it since I had another flight I had to catch at the next airport. I contacted Monster later on, to let them know about the "blob" of stuff in my can that I had found. They refused to even look into the matter unless I could provide the identification on the can.

I know there are thousands upon thousands of these cans, but their reply was appalling. I wasn't asking for anything in exchange - but after I had thought that maybe this was a bigger issue I wanted to at least make them aware of it. They didn't have interest. To this day, I won't touch the stuff.