Hi,

Source:BBC News

Soft drinks manufacturer Pepsi has been ordered to pay 20,000 rupees ($445) in damages to a man from Delhi who found a condom in a sealed bottle.

The company, which was also ordered to pay 100,000 rupees ($2,225) to the Consumer Legal Aid Fund, said it planned to challenge the order.

The case was brought before the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in the Indian capital by Sudesh Sharma.

Pepsi denied negligence and claimed the bottles were probably fake goods.

A company representative told the court the bottles may have contained a bogus product illegally marketed under its brand name.

Mr Sharma said he purchased two bottles of Pepsi from a shop in the Kashmere Gate area of the capital in 2003.


This case is an eye-opener for others who are engaged in manufacturing soft-drinks and are required to maintain the prescribed standards of purity in public interest during the course of their business activities
Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum

He said he suffered severe headaches and insomnia after consuming the drink from one of the bottles and had to seek medical treatment.

Mr Sharma said he found dirt in the empty bottle and when he looked inside the other bottle, which was still sealed, he found a condom.

The Press Trust of India reported the court as saying Pepsi had failed in its duty towards its customers by failing to take action against people passing off inferior products as Pepsi.

'Lame excuse'

It rejected as a "lame excuse" Pepsi's objection that it was not liable because it did not have any authorised dealers in the Kashmere Gate area.

The court said the case was "rare" and had a serious bearing on public health.

It said: "This case is an eye-opener for others who are engaged in manufacturing soft-drinks and are required to maintain the prescribed standards of purity in public interest during the course of their business activities".

Pepsico India said the court order was "erroneous" and they said they would be taking steps to challenge it.

The soft drinks market in India is worth billions of dollars.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi account for more than 90% of the carbonated drinks market in India and together sell more than 500 million bottles every year.

Who want's one ........

Ugh!

Wow...thats interesting...lol...i found a chocolate flavored condom in my school on the floor once...lol

lmao, this is good, I would have just asked for a free case of pop or something, this guy doesn't know how good he has it.

PepsiCo USA: Here's your $2,600. Go away.

PepsiCo India: We will be fighting you for evey penny! Yes we will!

Wha? Who gives a rip about that piddling amount of money and why, exactly, does Pepsi owe anyone but the plaintif?

They wouldn't give up that much here in the US over something like that, as I said before, they would give the person a free case of pop and it would (or should) be done with.

$2,600

Man if this happened in the states. PepsiCo would of written that check before the lawyer even finished the sentence.

Look at the bright sight of things! At least he can practise save sex for once in his life!

I can't get the sound of Sting singing "Message in a bottle" out of my head each time I see the title of this thread...

Maybe you should say: unspoken message. He could also use the rubber as a camelbag. This way he can walk the dessert and slobber some pepsi every so often