WTD? RANT: Cheestrings: SICK SON

[POWERADE]

I had stopped purchasing black diamond cheestrings a year ago, after two issues with them, both issues on separate occasions some time apart being that the cheesestrings were spoiled aka sour. During those two times, the 1st time I receive a replacement for a smaller pack than I had purchased, the 2nd time I was offered a $1.00 off coupon for some yougurt that I don't eat I refused the coupon, no replacement nothing just that $1.00 off coupon for astro. I was told on 2nd occasion that "Oh you don't have all the wrappers to each cheesestring so we can only off you this yougurt coupon" (I Just had the main package threw out the contents so no little ones would eat it and get sick) I guess this company expects you to hoard garbage and wrappers from their product till its fully gone and you've decided that you liked there product and it passed the test. Both times I was contacted by the same belligerent guy.which makes me think this is why they gave him this position as a CSR for product issues.

Anyhow like mentioned I stopped purchasing these cheestrings and switch to other brands when I was out shopping the other day, the "marble" kind in the other brand was not in stock so I said what the heck just this one time wont hurt and picked up the marble "black diamond cheesestrings". Upon getting home my son had snacked on 3 which i didn't know at the time and that evening he got ill, naseaus etc and we had thought maybe it's a stomach bug and he felt ok the next day. However today I was looking for a quick snack, so grabbed one of these cheestrings, and when I bit into it I had to spit it out right away it was SOUR!! BARF!! Then it hit me, all the symptoms my son had yesterday was those of eating spoiled dairy...Had i realized this yesterday at the time I would have brought him to the doctor to confirm.

Now my question is, this is my 3rd time with the same problem with these, the last two not being so helpful and was just shaken off by the guy like i was trying to scronge a free coupon or something, What should I do on this 3rd occasion? I refuse to let it slide since my son got sick. But i feel as though it will be shaken off again, and once again i do not have the full package of wrappers since my son DID eat 3 yuck! however I did keep the wrapper to the one I had opened and the wrappers to the other unopened ones. How should I handle this situation? Should I point out the fact that is my 3rd bad experience, not mention the previous ones at all? and mention my son got sick this time?

Sorry for the EXTREMELY long post, just looking for some feedback to properly handle this so that it potentially gets seriously looked at this time and not just thrown out the window like i'm just complaining for a coupon or something. Alot of people tend to buy these for their kids not eating them themselves, so if they were sour chances are you may not know, Just as i didn't know, They tasted horrible so not sure how my son managed to eat 3, but I guess he's too little to realize what sour dairy taste like. Beats me. But still very mad about it.

Any tips would be great. Thanks in advanced for reading this longggg post!

[nosobbq]

take them back to the store and get your money back!! ask them to try them and tell them your son got sick and you ate one or should i say tried to eat one!! they should do something for you!! get the lot number and call the company!!

[mimi-]

was it close to the expiry date? i have bad experiences eating dairy products a day or two before the printed date. since it's sour 3x in a row, i suspect the problem may lie in the store if they were all purchased from the same place. some stores use open fridges that aren't very cold, sort of like coolers, to store their dairy products. Or put back products that have been left out on shelves by unwanted customers for sale even though they have been out for hours.

i hope your son gets better the company wants the lot # from the package as nosobbq has mentioned. they need it to identify the problematic batch of cheese so they can look into what caused the problem. i would tell them about all 3 experiences. they need to launch an investigation to see why their cheese is going bad. ask around to see if anyone has the same problem as you and tell the company about their experiences too

[juniperjune]

I would take them back to the store and switch to another brand. The last thing we need is for our kids to get food poisoning!

[sweetnlow30]

I'm so sorry your son got sick I have found that the last two times we bought Cheese Strings, they were softer than then should be. No one got sick but the texture was off. I remember them being firmer and easily peelable. I don't know if they changed the recipe or it was a quality issue but I don't care for them anymore. Don't even get me started on the Fun Cheez snacks. They are just horrible! I would take them back and get your money back at the least. You can try contacting the company and see what they say. It is worth a shot

[vibrantflame]

Oh, poor little guy Hope he feels better soon. I would take it back to the store and get a refund, and contact the company again. Maybe call them and write a letter to them.

Question: Were all the packs of cheese strings purchased from the same store? I ask because I have discovered certain stores are bad for carrying products that are close to expiry. There is a store near my in-laws that they and I have had issues with when it comes to milk....they will sell it when it's way too close to expiry and often ends up spoiled.

[Derton]

I advise you to keep the package with what's left and call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with your story. They will make an inquiry about that.

[mle]

Sorry your son got sick! I would think that if the product were spoiled that is not at the fault of the company that makes the product but rather who sells it. I would probably contact the grocery store about that. Smaller, less popular stores may not have a fast product turnover so they just sit for a while. Or it may not have been refigerated properly, or likewise if the groceries spent some time in a hot car before being placed in the fridge. Plus, maybe 3 cheesetrings is a bit much for a little body to handle. I think I'd get sick if I ate the same thing- it is processed cheese after all. Good luck figuring it out!

[frugalgirl14]

i feel bad for you and your son! You guys both ate them, yuck! As for black diamond, my family stopped buying it YEARS ago with the same issues. If it wasn't spoiled, it wouldn't taste good. Also, one time we bought it, it was moldy! And the expiry date was in another week. Now me and my family stick to good ol' kraft for our everyday cheese