Bengalurean sues supermarket for selling worm-infested chocolates, wins Rs 15,000

BENGALURU: A consumer court ordered a top supermarket chain in the city to pay a customer Rs 15,000 in compensation, apart from a refund of Rs 805, following a complaint from a customer that his wife and infant son fell ill after eating worm-infested chocolates bought from the store.
The court, while penalising the supermarket, dismissed the charges of negligence against the chocolate manufacturer. The court ruled that representatives of Trent Hypermarket Pvt Ltd must pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 for causing mental agony to and harassing the customer.
The judges also ordered that an additional sum of Rs 5,000 should be paid on account of the complainant's legal expenses, apart from refunding him Rs 805. The order will have to be met within 30 days, failing which, an interest will be levied, the court said.
According to reports, on October 2, 2021, Whitefield resident Giridhar Gopal, 30, had purchased a Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolate box with 24 pieces from a Star Bazaar outlet for Rs 805.50.
On November 11, 2021, Gopal opened the box that had June 5, 2022, as the expiration date printed on it. When his wife and seven-month-old son started eating the chocolate balls, Gopal suddenly noticed something crawling on his son's face and was shocked to realise that those were worms that had come out of the chocolate. Both mother and son both fell ill after consuming the chocolates and had to undergo treatment.
Gopal raised a complaint with Ferrero India Pvt Ltd. He also approached the Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at Shantinagar and issued a legal notice to Ferrero India Pvt Ltd and Trent Hyper Market Pvt Ltd, operators of Star Bazaar.
While Gopal held the manufacturer and retailer guilty of serving food that was hazardous to health, the manufacturer argued before the court that Gopal had refused to provide the full packet of the allegedly worm-infested chocolates, owing to which a detailed probe could not be carried out.
'Retailer responsible'
On January 30, 2023, judges at the consumer forum noted that makers Ferrero Rocher cannot be held responsible for negligence as their responsibility ended once the consignment was handed over to the retailer.
The judges further clarified that it was the supermarket that had failed to produce any cogent evidence before the court that it had fulfilled all necessary safety parameters while storing the chocolates at its outlet.