Monster calls suit over mouse in can a 'shakedown'

A lawsuit against Monster Beverage Co. filed after a Federal Way man allegedly found a mouse in a can of Monster Energy is nothing more than a shakedown, the company says in a statement.

Vitaliy Sulzhik's attorney filed a product liability suit in King County Superior Court, seeking physical and emotional damages for his client. Sulzhik claims he found the mouse at the bottom of a can of Monster Energy drink.

The company says they believe the lawsuit is "frivolous and unfounded."

They say Sulzhik stated that he drank part of a Monster Energy drink and then left the can opened and unattended for hours in his car, which provided ample opportunity for a small mouse to crawl into the can.

"Common sense would dictate that if a mouse had been introduced into the can at production (a virtually impossible scenario given modern production technologies) which occurred months prior to Mr. Sulzhik's consumption of the product, the mouse would have deteriorated and the product would not have been drinkable from the very first sip," the statement says.

The company says in recent cases involving soft drinks produced by other companies, scientists concluded that over time, "any natural foreign object would have deteriorated, rendering the taste bad and the product undrinkable."

In addition, the company says while on the high speed can line, each can is turned upside down and injected with high-pressured deionized air, making it virtually impossible for any foreign object to remain in the can. Each can is then immediately filled and sealed at high speed. The species of mouse allegedly found in the can is common in rural areas, where Sulzhik lives, and not commonly found in industrial areas where the product was manufactured.

The company says they believe they owe it to consumers to assure them that there is no factual basis for Sulzhik's claim.

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