I was just feeding my 8 month old daughter some stage 2 beef babyfood and came across a hair! It is about 1 half inch long and very black and course. NASTY! I immediatly called the 1-800 number on the jar and they said that they were sorry and that it would be reported and are sending me coupons. I'm very upset this happened. I don't know if this is even a human hair or animal. Should I do anything else? Should I keep the jar? Do I just forget the whole thing happened and just be happy that she did'nt eat it? What would you do?

By Amy~moderator on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - 11:46 pm:

OMy!!!!!! What brand was it? I would demand to speak to a manager, and demand something be done to rectify this! Yuck!

By Paulas on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 12:28 am:

That is just nasty! I don't know what I would do. I do get a kick out of these companies that say they will send coupons...really! I'm thinking I wouldn't want to use that brand again so what good would the coupons be????

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 01:49 am:

That is really awful!!! I made my baby food, so thankfully never had to deal with something like that, but I would be extremely upset if I found something in any food!!!

By Momaroze on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 08:17 am:

Myself, I am not planning on buying any baby food containing meat!!!! Ugh nasty.

By Kernkate on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 08:58 am:

I would go further with the issue. Call the 800 again and demand to talk to a supervisor.
I had a can of clam sauce and almost choked on a piece of clam shell that was in it. I did call the company and talked to a supervisor. They took the claim very seriously. They not only sent me tons of free coupons but also sent me a check for $50.00 to go out and have dinner on them.
I kept the can and the piece of shell and the company sent fed ex to pick it up.
Good customer service.
But the hair, not knowing where it came from I would have been upset if this had happened to me!

By Mara on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 09:04 am:

The baby food was Gerber brand! I always trusted this brand too. It still groses me out. The hair was about half way down the side of the jar on the inside. I used the spoon to fish it out and I know for a fact that it did'nt get there from me! Everyone in our family has light brown hair and this one was short, black and course....almost like pubic hair! GRROOSSSSSS! I think I will call them back. I still have the jar and the hair.

I will let you know what comes out of it.

By Mara on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 09:18 am:

I called the number again and asked to talk to the supervisor. I told the supervisor about what happened and that I called last night but just didn'nt feel like I really got across what I wanted to. I told her that I was very disappointed and that the coupons they offered to send might not help because I'm not sure if I will ever purchase Gerber brand baby food again. She appologised and told me about how they are safe about food handling and that this will for sure be reported. That was about the whole conversation. I'm still not sure if I'll buy this product again. I've always been a Gerber lover, maybe I'll switch to Beechnut!

By Kate on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 09:23 am:

I would be grossed out, yes, but you have to realize that even the best quality control isn't perfect. It could be that the hair floated out a vent and landed in the mix, or on a worker's clothing, etc. It's good you called and you should maybe write a letter complete with pics of the jar, hair, etc. and ask that they check their food/prep/canning area and make sure things are in place and nothing has slacked off. Gerber didn't do this on purpose and they don't want things like that to happen. Gross things happen all the time though....think of all those with pets....those people surely eat animal hair here and there since it just floats around in the air and gets on sleeves of people eating, etc. We eat bugs, unfortunately and unintentionally. We have no clue how clean the chef is back in the restaurant kitchen either! Yes, it's gross, but our bodies are pretty resilient and can handle it. Believe me, I'm a germ freak but lately I've calmed down a bit by realizing that back before refrigeration and tupperware, food was very exposed to germs, not to mention hand washing and sanitation was nil. Think of the pioneers on the trail preparing food in those dirty conditions. Fish scales, feathers, hair....we've eaten it all. Yuck. But the thing is those people all survived!! And we survive everyday. I say write the letter and ask for verification that they've updated their board of health checks or whatever, and then forget it. And I wouldn't bother boycotting Gerber because it can happen in any food packaging plant.

By Mommyathome on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 11:02 am:

That *is* pretty gross!!
I think you've done all that you can. Hopefully it was a one time thing.

By Mara on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 02:14 pm:

I just got a call from Gerber and they are sending me a envelope to put the hair in and they are going to analise (sp) it.
I understand that this happens, but they need to know when it happens so they can put forth an effort to keep it from happening again.

By Jessicac1979 on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 05:49 pm:

arent you scared if you send them the hair they will try to say it never happened b/c then you dont have the hair anymore-I would be worried about that. if i were you i would take a picture of the hair and the baby food jar and write down what had happened and all the phone calls that you made and what they said before you send them anything and if they want the baby food jar i would write down all the info off of that also. i just dont want to see you get screwed if they get the hair then try to say it never happened. but i would be grossed out too! nasty!

By Dananivyboo1 on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 08:29 pm:

Ewwww. I am one that will stop eating after seeing hair in my food or just lying on the table etc. Now my son has the same thing. But one time when my son first started eating baby food he kept smelling the food on the spoon and just kept shaking his head "no" So I was like whats wrong its your favorite "peaches" He still refused. Well I smelled it myself and it smelled funny..tasted it and I swear is tasted like SOAP. I never thought back then to call and complain though.

By Mara on Thursday, April 15, 2004 - 09:05 am:

Jessica, Yes I thought of that too. I put the jar, and the hair on a piece of paper and wrote the date on that paper, then took a picture of the whole thing. I would be upset if they said that there was nothing there or if they said that they never received it. I just want them to acknowledge that it happened. I don't want them to try to make me out to be lying. The whole think would'nt have been as bad if it happend to my food, but I take things very seriously when it happens to my kids. I've been to Applebees in the past and have on one occation found a fly/bee not really sure what it was in my salad. I called over the waitress and discretly showed it to her, the mananger apologised and gave us our dinner on the house. I was very pleased with the way it was handled. I would have been more upset it I would have found that on my kids plate. I still can't eat there since this happened. It probebly would never happen again, but I just can't get it out of my head.
I work in a deli, I understand taht these things happen, some things do get by unnoticed, But..I just feel that it is a different matter when it happens to your babies food from a well known company that is supposed to be known for great baby food.

By Texannie on Thursday, April 15, 2004 - 09:56 am:

You might want to take the picture next to a newspaper that has the date on it. IF, they are going to challenge you, they could say that you took that picture at anytime and just wrote that date on it.

By Echo on Friday, April 16, 2004 - 04:23 pm:

I agree with Kate. It is truly disgusting, but it was surely an accident. Just be happy that it didn't go in your baby's mouth. But even if it did, I'm sure she wouldn't mind, and also it probably wouldn't hurt her. I do agree that they need to know about it, but I've seen video of baby-food packaging plants, and they seemed nearly close to immaculate. I'm sure it's something they are very concerned about what with all the lawsuits these days. They wouldn't be able to afford many mistakes, but they do happen.

By Amecmom on Friday, April 16, 2004 - 06:08 pm:

By the way ... I've never had a problem with Beachnut. Gerber grosses my son out. He won't touch it.
But yes, most companies have problems. The company that makes the formula my son was on recalled it because of the possibility of bacterial contamination. Coincidentally, my son was suffering from some bacterial infection that we couldn't find the source of (The doc didn't think it was from the formula - go figure?). The company said they would send me checks for the cans of formula I'd already used. They never sent anything. I'd be happy Gerber is taking such an interest in this and be happy she didn't eat the hair!
Ame