Week 3 Part: 1

Machine parts in my coconut chips?

In an ongoing and often failing effort to eat at least a little healthier I tend to snack on more healthy quick-grab items such as baked edamame because I think that I hate flavor for some unknown reason. It is hard to find a balance between a snack food that hits the right notes of flavor and texture while not causing my arteries to harden and clog after the first bite. Often the balance is stuck by a company that produces an item that is more Styrofoam with a sprinkle of salt. Yes, if you eat it you will live but it living worth the price? I thought so when I bought a brand of coconut chips that were rather good and came in salty and sweet varieties. The first bag I opened was good until I crunched down on a small chunk of metal that was in the bag. I was a little shocked and taken back and kinda mad. I attempted to email the company with the issue and after a few days of not receiving any response I decided to post on there twitter and facebook pages and include picture of the metal. The response took under an hour which is pretty impressive for a CRS team based in the Philippines where it was well after midnight on a Monday morning. They requested the lot codes and such from the packaging and some high def pics of the chunk of metal in order to identify what plant and machine it came from. I couple weeks later I received a large box full of coconut chips and coupons for coconut chips. I did eat them because they are indeed delicious and even with the threat of stray bits of steel still safer to eat then a cheeseburger.

I fact they they were concerned with the potential for loose metal to be in their food products is not at all surprising. Any company that liked not being sued is likely to do the same thing. What did surprise me was the response time from the local team. It was impressed.