Woman finds dead mouse in Hershey's chocolate syrup ordered online. Company apologises

Suspecting something amiss, they emptied the bottle into a disposable cup, revealing the gruesome presence of a dead mouse. (Image: pramisridhar /X)

In a shocking incident, a woman discovered a dead mouse in a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup ordered through the quick commerce platform Zepto. The horrifying discovery was shared by Prami Sridhar on Instagram, where she recounted how three members of her family consumed the contaminated syrup, resulting in one needing medical attention.

In her post, Sridhar detailed the unsettling sequence of events. Her family had ordered the syrup to enjoy with brownie cakes. However, upon pouring it out, they noticed small hairs in the syrup. Suspecting something amiss, they emptied the bottle into a disposable cup, revealing the gruesome presence of a dead mouse. To confirm their findings, they washed the bottle under running water, further verifying the alarming discovery.

Sridhar's Instagram post included a disturbing video of the dead mouse submerged in the chocolate syrup. She attempted to lodge a complaint, but her efforts were met with silence. She noted that three girls had consumed the syrup before the horrifying discovery, with one girl fainting and requiring hospitalisation. Fortunately, she has since recovered fully.

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A post shared by Prami Sridhar (@pramisridhar)

"This is extremely concerning and unacceptable. We’re worried about the health risks and the lack of quality control," Sridhar wrote on Instagram. She urged a thorough investigation into the matter and advised her audience to exercise caution with packaged foods, especially those given to children.

The video, shared on May 29, quickly went viral, amassing over 5 million views. Among the flood of comments, Hershey’s responded with a message: “Hi there, we are very sorry to see this. Please send us the UPC and manufacturing code from the bottle to consumercare@hersheys.com with the reference number 11082163 so one of our team members can assist you.”

Sridhar's post has sparked widespread concern about food safety and quality control, underscoring the need for stringent checks to prevent such alarming incidents.

"You can sue them (Hershey) for this and report to food safety," one user wrote. Another user commented, "New fear unlocked."

"This is only one bottle found. Think how many people's houses might have the remaining bottles which contain the bacteria of a dead rat," a third user added.