Food Manufacturer Ordered to Pay $2.5K for Date Pit in Snack

A New Zealand food manufacturer must pay $2,488 to a customer whose teeth and dentures were damaged after biting into a date pit concealed in a packaged snack, a judicial tribunal ruled.

The Disputes Tribunal found that D Ltd breached consumer guarantees when the customer, identified as MO in court documents, suffered two broken molars and a damaged denture from the incident on Jan. 17.

According to the tribunal's decision, MO believed he was biting into a nut, as the product's packaging indicated it contained nuts. The manufacturer's representative argued that MO should have removed any foreign object detected in the food rather than attempting to chew it.

Referee C. Hawes rejected this argument, stating that the customer "reasonably expected that the snack contained nuts" and "should not reasonably have expected to find a hard date pit in the snack."

The compensation includes $762 for dental repairs, $1,226 for denture replacement, and $500 for pain and inconvenience. The tribunal determined the product was "not of acceptable quality" under the Consumer Guarantees Act, as it put the consumer's physical safety at risk.

The manufacturer had previously offered to pay only the cost of dental repairs, maintaining it had no liability in the matter.

The decision cannot be appealed based on findings of fact, according to tribunal rules.