Kitchen

[Mominohio]

Maybe I'm just having a run of bad luck, but lately I've had something happen too often, and was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.

At least a half dozen times over the last year or so, I have purchased a packaged food product at the grocery store, only to get it home and find out that it is open/damaged inside. Once it was a blueberry muffin mix, the inside bag was torn open (this actually happened on two occasions). Another time it was the sleeves of crackers in the box that were torn. Today it was cat food that I have bought for years (dry) and there was a white granular substance mixed in. Tonight I opened a box of snack crackers and the bag inside had a hole in it. Some time ago, it was granola bars where some were open and wrapper mangled. In every case, the outer boxes are in excellent condition and sealed tightly, no hint of the problem inside.

Mostly this is packaging machines not sealing the product or damaging the wrapper in production, but I'm getting really tired of dealing with it. These (except the cat food) were all national brands, and I called the company each time, was sent coupons to replace the product for free, sometimes even extra coupons. I'm truly not running a racket to get free food, it kind of unnerves me, as I'm afraid that if I hadn't caught it, my kid might have opened the package and just ate the food, that will be stale at best, maybe make you sick at worst.

Food is just too expensive to throw it away and forget about it, and I'd not risk eating it for fear of someone getting ill. I'm not a germaphobe or obsessive about eating at potlucks or buffets or someones house or anything like that.

Anyone else have this happen, or have I become the magnet for damaged product?