Number one.. sue for what? The Government has made it almost impossible to sue companies inside the US. Since the little girl wasn't hurt at all, I don't see any way to sue. Any real lawyers here have any answers?

I'm glad the girl wasn't hurt. If she had been hurt, I could totally see suing General Mills. As a Parent, I can understand being upset after my 6 yr old brings me a Lancet, she found in a cereal, or any box. I think I'd also be upset that General Mills lied, telling me, "The needle likely came from a machine along the cereal assembly line." Instead of saying, I'm sorry Ma'am, we'll investigate, and find out which employee must have failed to dispose of their lancet." Yeah.. that doesn't sound any better.

But a Law suit? personally.. I don't think that's even an issue, & even if the parents wanted to sue, I think they'd be hard pressed to find a lawyer to take the case.

How is it wrong to put her pic in the paper? She found it.

For a suit to begin and succeed there has to be damages. What would the damages be? No one was physically hurt. The damages claimed would have to be some sort of mental distress that would require treatment by a psychotherapist. The therapist would have to testify that such damages occured.

hankhill: Your comment brought back memories for me. Many years ago, I spent my summer break from college sweating it out at the old Libby's plant here in Janesville. I worked the "corn cutters" ... most of the time, the corn was canned as nibblets; other times, the not-so-good corn became creamed corn. I saw what ended up in the cream corn firsthand ... it was years before I would eat it again.

wes...it's people like you that are the reason why costs on things continue to rise. Do you really think any comapany eats the cost of anything, especially a lawsuit? In response they simply raise their prices accross the board to recover their loses.
I work in the food industry and can gaurantee you any large company like G-mills has very strict rules on it's employees and facilities regarding their clothing and such called good manufacturing procedures (GMP's). Typical GMP's call for things like shirts with no buttons and no chest pockets, no fake nails, no body piercings of any kind, no nail polish, beard nets, hair nets, no food or medication on the plant floor except a company approved water bottle...etc. I don't think it's quite fair to go after a company that has rules and procedures in place just because some jerk employee decided to violate those rules. The comapany wasn't malacious. I agree with you that we should be able to have utmost trust in our food supply and that this incident is quite scary considering it appears to be a medical product. But you need to consider a large food production plant has food whizzing by on conveyors 24 hours a day sometimes seven days a week, thousands of pounds per hour. All of it is made on large equipment that has lots of moving parts, and that breaks and has to be repaired. Much of it is completely disassembled every week or every day to be sanitized and repaired. It is beyond unreal to expect that no foreign matter will ever make it's way into product like that. Most companies with even the best foreign matter complaints still have one to two complaints per million pounds. That may not sound like alot until you figure a plant that makes 50,000 lbs per shift or more with 500 employees. That includes everything from coins, to machine parts, to hair. If you really believe that every bit of everything you ever eat should be 100% foreign matter free you better start cooking all of your own food and growing yor own ingredients. Even then can you honestly say you'll never lose a hair or accidentally have something fall in?

why is it wrong to post her photo? She probably is having fun seeing her picture in the newspaper. This story is not about a crime or anything negative about the child, lighten up, there are much more things in this story to be upset about, like the reaction from General Mills!

I think they have every right to file a lawsuit. Damned right. Isn't like General Mills can't afford the very strictest of safety protocols. You never know where that thing has been and what diseases it may carry. Oh, so she didn't eat it, and that's good. But just anything like that being in such close proximity to the food she DID eat, well, that's cause for concern. I realize they aren't in this for the money, but mabey they should be. General Mills has a lot of products out there on the market, and don't even tell me this was a once in a lifetime episode. It is unacceptable how this got into a cereal box. There is NO room for error when it comes to our commercial food supply. No room for error. None. Period.

I respect the fact they are not talking to an atty. Sure, they may have a case, but it does not mean that is always the best route to go. I applaud the family for not trying to cash in and instead using the incident to educate the public, the company, and their daughter. The public needs to know to be aware. The company needs to protect itself, but also be more responsive to their customers. The daughter and the public gain the most when they see that there are respectable ways of handling things like this; even in a litigious society.

fish anybody?

I think it was inaproppriate, and in bad taste, to post a picture of the child with this article.

My parents once bought a box of chips (two bags) for a picnic and found the remains of a workers lunch under the top bag.

Yes, that is a lancet. Besides being used by diabetics to check glucose levels, lancets are also used in blood and plasma donor facilities. Personally, I am glad to hear the family is not planning to sue but does want to alert the public.

I read it on Channel 3 website, three days ago. Way to go Gazette.

how rude and unusual for general mills not to cooperate

that is a lancet used to draw blood sample for diabetic gloucometers. General Mills needs to start checking for the diabetic employee in their packaging dept.

It looks like a lancet used to prick your finger to draw a blood sample.

Read this story many days ago in the Madison newspaper!!!