I've seen some weird industry scandals in my time, but this report, via News Corp Australia, might just take the cake (or the chicken, as it were):
Campbell's says that its soup is made with real meat — not '3D-printed chicken' — and said it has fired an executive who allegedly made the explosive claims in a bombshell recording that trashed the company's products and customers.
Campbell's VP Martin Bally was caught describing the soup as 'bioengineered meat' and saying, 'I don't wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer', according to a suit a former employee filed last week in Michigan.
Incidentally that's how I feel about eating 3D-printed meat too:
This comes after an employee was allegedly fired for reporting inappropriate behavior by Campbell's VP Martin Bally:
Robert Garza, a former security analyst for Campbell Soup Company, has filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination after reporting inappropriate behavior by Vice President Martin Bally. Garza claims he recorded Bally making derogatory remarks about Campbell's products and Indian employees, as well as admitting to drug use at work. Despite positive performance feedback, Garza was fired shortly after reporting these issues to his supervisor, J.D. Aupperle, leading to accusations of retaliation and a racially hostile work environment. Campbell Soup Company stated they are investigating the matter, emphasizing that the alleged comments do not align with their company values.
Of course, the company is denying the claims that its meat comes from a bio-inkjet. Campbell's says its soups "do not use lab-grown chicken or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups."
Still, the company's shares "closed down 3 per cent on Monday and another 0.6 per cent on Tuesday," suggesting that at least some people may have believed the claims, even though there's no evidence to support them.
Amazingly, the company is so keen to dispel claims about its canned soup meat that it has posted a striking notice on its website:
The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate, they are patently absurd. ... We do not use lab-grown chicken or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups.
Logging onto a food company website to learn there's been a dispute about "bioengineered meat" in their product:
Mmmm, yummy!
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