A mother who experienced "shock and horror" when her baby gagged on a piece of glass in its food has been awarded £3,500 damages against H.J. Heinz (Ireland) Ltd.
Judge Liam Devally said in Dublin Circuit Civil Court he did not believe the glass had got into a Heinz purΘed beans and bacon dinner during the manufacturing process.
"But glitches unfortunately can and do occur in the most unlikely circumstances," he said. "Unfortunately, there is a human element which very occasionally doesn't totally follow through in the best of work practices."
He told Mr Michael Byrne, counsel for Mrs Sharon Murphy, Rockbrook Lodge, Ballyedmonduff, Stepaside, Co Dublin, that he believed her evidence that the glass was in a teaspoonful of food she fed her year-old baby, Dylan, from the glass jar.
Mr Alex Delamare, quality assurance manager at the Heinz factory in Wigan, England, said it would not be possible for a shard of glass of the proportions described to beat their monitoring system.
Mrs Murphy said she fed Dylan the glass in the last spoonful from the jar. He had gagged and pushed it out with his tongue. Before taking him to a doctor she examined his mouth for injury, but he had not been cut.
Judge Devally said Mrs Murphy was entitled to £3,500 damages for shock.