My tuna sandwich had an unwelcome bonus: a 3/4 inch, two-pronged bone. It stuck me in the gums. No blood drawn, but I expect better from my usual brand of white albacore in water.
Now what? I have encountered negligently included matter in foodstuffs before, nothing large or horrible, like the famous human toe in the plug of chewing tobacco often cited as a perfect illustration of “res ipsa loquitur”. (The Mississippi Supreme Court: we can “imagine no reason why, with ordinary care human toes could not be left out of chewing tobacco, and if toes are found in chewing tobacco, it seems to us that somebody has been very careless.”) In such cases I have just let it go, taking a Golden Rule approach. After all, some stuff is bound to slip through now and then. Yes, I made a big deal when I found a bug in my salad, but the occasional small hair, or bit of bone, I let pass.
This one was different, though. It was bigger, and the damn thing stuck me.
So should I send the tuna fish company the bone and complain? If I do, what’s the objective? Is it to extort a lucky haul by getting the company to send a life supply of tuna fish? I know people that send in such complaints several times a year, often with spectacular results. They specialize in writing indignant, angry letters full of implied threats. These people like finding bones in their tuna fish. The problem is, I don’t like them.
Is it a matter of good citizenship to tell the company that some of their cans have bones along with the fish? Can I save another consumer from a stuck gum and a spoiled sandwich experience by alerting the company to a problem in their processing? It probably is good citizenship, except that I’m pretty sure that renegade fish bones are a well-known inevitability in the tuna fish business.
The question, then: what’s the ethical course?
Ethics Alarms 
Jack you state, “These people like finding bones in their tuna fish. The problem is, I don’t like them.”
The bones or the people?
I say let it slide if it is a one off as you say. The Golden Rule is your friend here.
I voted for ‘Report it, without any hint’ because the company may have a real problem. Just let them know (and keep the bone for if they ask for it)
Gold digging is unethical
This^. Beat me to it.
You will be doing them a service by letting them know about it along with the lot numbers and where it was purchased. They will want to know about it. Include a picture of the bone.
Who knows, Charlie may be missing…
+5 for antique commercial joke
Well, then he should be preserving the entire can as a possible crime scene.
But Charlie’s still making commercials — although the latest I’ve seen are for chicken. Hmmmm……..perhaps a connection between the bone and the switch to chicken?
I agree. If you still have the can find the lot # so they have something to investigate. Without a lot number it will be nearly impossible to take corrective action in its processing machinery.
However, I wrote without thinking. I assume this is the first time it’s happened. Once, maybe twice, maybe even three times in a lifetime, no problem, but company quality control needs to know when it happens. On the flip side 2 or 3 times a month is just slipshod processing, and veiled threats are probably not enough.
This got me thinking about the proper escalation of repeat incidents. The first time you have a couple choices, shrug it off or make a good faith effort to alert the company so they can improve themselves. Your path may be defined by how many successful purchases you’ve made previously. Is this a 1st out of 10 experience or a 1st out of 1,000?
The 2nd time you definitely need to make someone aware of the issue.
The 3rd time you need to find a new supplier and alert the company that you can no longer trust their product. If they are a sole supplier, then you should be allowed to get angry and make a stink. The only way you’ll get good tuna if they’re a sole supplier is if they improve….and if they’re not actively improving, then you’ll have to kick them in the pants to improve.
Wish we could use your tactic dealing with the GOPe, Tim. Gutless wonders, the lot of them.
Sad, but true.
How do you get tuna from a sole supplier? If you want sole go to a sole supplier.
I could not resist.
haha
made my day, thanks. – I was wondering if I couldn’t work it up to a shaggy-fish story.
Don’t be koi with me: you said that just for the halibut, didn’t you? The sheer bass! Water we to do for you? I will have to mullet over.
Winner! Winner! WHALE of a dinner!
Not bad…not bad at all.
Clearly that bone belonged to the fish that didn’t get away.
Well obviously Jack can expect a little bit of ribbing from us numbskulls for a story like this. Yesterday, today, or to-marrow, there are some things we’ll always find humerus.
–Dwayne
As far as I’m concerned, if there was no need for medical attention due to the product then reporting it is a public service and a civic responsibility.
I make reports similar to this when the something comes up and I make it very clear up front that I do not want and will not accept anything in return, the purpose it to inform them that they may have an unknown problem with their product. I’ve actually had to return coupons to the company when they sent them to me as a result of a “complaint”. I’m very firm on this.
I found a small shard of glass in a bottle of beer and reported it- I phrased it along the lines of “Hey, I have no intention of suing or anything, but I thought you might want the information in case you need to fix something or do a recall before there’s an actual problem.” They were very pleasant about it, thoroughly apologetic, and sent me a check for the purchase price of the case of beer as well as a couple of branded doohickeys.
I’d say tell them- if that bone is within the unavoidable error rate then the worst that happens is you waste a few moments reporting an unfixable problem, otherwise you could be doing a real service.
Exactly – don’t we have a lot of ethics examples, even on this site, of situations where everyone’s standing around a catastrophe saying “somebody really ought to have said something…”
This very thing happened to me several years ago. What I thought was an unusually large piece of Tuna bone made it into my sandwich. It did enough damage to the roof of my mouth that I could take a picture of it. I sent a picture of the damage along with the picyire of the offending bone to the manufacturer. I expressed my concern with how such a large piece could make it through processing and that I was no longer able to trust their product. I asked for a response and was soundly ignored. Not even a return email acknowledging complaint. I’m not sure what I expected back from them. I had no intention of following up legally. It left me with the impression that this is either a fairly common thing or they had a policy of ignore until you refuse to be ignored.
That’s the way of most companies these days, William. However, if you mention the words ‘lawyer’ and ‘press’, things change rather dramatically. Works for politicians, too.