Tesco Fruit and Fibre Cereal broken tooth

Vertex1

Hi folks, Last Thursday something rock hard in Tesco's own brand Fruit and Fibre cereal broke one of my molar teeth. This required a vist to the dentist on the Friday for an amalgam filling, the dentist said this will likely need to be replaced with a crown within a year or two.

I contacted Tesco's online customer services who said that I should return the box to the store where it will be sent away for testing. After doing this, I recieved a phone call this morning from an individual with a completely insincere apologetic manner, he told me that as I swallowed whatever has broken my tooth, the cereal would not be tested and no recompense would be given.

I'm a full time carer and therefore on a low income but want to take this further, any advice is appreciated. I'm situated in Northern Ireland, if that matters regarding laws etc.

jon81uk

You could complain to your local enviromental health, this is the details for Belfast but check your local council Register a food safety complaint | Belfast City Council

But without the offending hard thing its likely they won't be able to take any action, they can't test what they don't have, same as Tesco. Also they will just investigate any food safety issues, they won't get you compensation.

Brie

Did the store at least give you a refund for the cereal? Nothing compared to the cost of repairing a tooth of course. You might go back to the store and ask to talk to the manager. When I've had faulty products (opened a jar of jam to find a thick layer of mold etc) the manufacturer has usually been very keen to refund and then offer more - usually products rather than money but that at least is something. Occasionally it's been a £5 voucher, again nothing compared to your tooth. My limited results have been achieved by being factual, polite to the point of being good humoured.

Vertex1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81915678#Comment_81915678

Thanks, I will do that.

Ayr_Rage

You'll be banging your head against a wall if you don't have the evidence.

You might get a small amount of goodwill but that's the best you can hope for.

Vertex1

The manner in which I was fobbed off this morning makes me prepared to bang my head against the wall a little bit. They lied to me whenever they said they would test the contents of the box and the guy's phone manner was infuriating. I was violently mugged over 20 years ago and had a front tooth broken in half, it has required numerous trips to the dentist over the years to get the repair replaced. I'm don't want to let this slide.

Wonka_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81915715#Comment_81915715

in which case you’re going to have to get your rubber gloves and sieve out 💩

Good luck 🤞

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81915760#Comment_81915760

If it happened 4 days ago it would have gone through "the system" by now.

Alderbank

The warning information printed on the box of Tesco fruit and fibre breakfast cereal includes:

Safety Information

Caution: This product may occasionally contain small fragments of shell..

(Since the product contains hazelnuts I assume this means nutshell rather than eggshell or crustacean shell, all of them are allergens to some people).

Even if you do manage to sieve out and identify the offending scrap of hazelnut shell it might be hard to identify it as definitely coming from that Tesco breakfast? Hazelnuts are found in a wide variety of foods, such as Ferrero Rocher

Woodstok2000

It may not even be a quality issue - the little bits of dried banana, which are in Tesco Fruit and Fibre by design, are the only naturally occurring substance harder than diamond. If you bit one of those no wonder your tooth broke.

Vertex1

I have logged a claim online with the small claims court.The fee was over £100 which is difficult for me but I'm not going to let it go. Whenever I informed the online customer service that I would take action, they politely more or less told me to F off and linked a feedback survey that they would greatly appreciate if I filled it in🙄