Mars probes claims of maggot in choc box

Mars China Inc offered Monday to compensate a consumer if its investigations proved she had indeed discovered a maggot inside a box containing Dove nutty milk chocolate hearts.

A Beijing resident, surnamed Xiao, alleged she discovered a maggot inside the box after she bought the tin of Dove Mocha Milk Chocolates with Hazelnuts from a local supermarket in Fengtai district Sunday morning.

The manufacturers have offered Xiao compensation worth 10 times the price of the chocolates, which cost 39 yuan ($6), if Mars is found to be at fault.

Xiao told the Global Times that she found a white maggot crawling on the candy after she had already eaten most of the chocolates. She posted a picture of the creature inside the chocolate box online on Sunday.

"I might have eaten some maggots by accident already," she said.

"I then approached the DIA supermarket where I bought the chocolate. It advised me to ask the chocolate manufacturer for a solution," said Xiao.

Although Xiao did not become ill, she asked Mars for an explanation. She noted that the production date on the tin was August 24, 2012 with a 12-month expiry date.

"I want an explanation from the manufacturer about why a maggot could be in a sealed chocolate box, especially when it's not expired yet," she said, adding the compensation is not her focus but she wants a sincere solution to the problem.

"What if I or anybody else comes across this again in the future?" she asked, "still ten times compensation as it is now?"

A staff member from Mars, which owns the Dove brand, surnamed Jiang told the Global Times that they reached Xiao Sunday with a compensation offer.

"We'll send a representative to meet Xiao in person to get a chocolate sample for an investigation," said Jiang.

"But because we haven't yet seen the sample, we can't tell what caused the problem with this product," she said, adding their products have no quality issue and Mars will not confirm this case until they finish the internal investigation.

Suo Jie, media officer of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Quality and Technology said that they have launched an investigation concerning this case Monday.

"This investigation is targeting the Mars chocolate factory in Huairou district," she said, noting that they will release the result later.

DIA supermarket would not give any comment on Monday.