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Trail of chili mouse gets cold

Ryan GraffPost Independent Staff

Wendys officials likely never will get to the bottom of a womans claim that she found a mouse in a bowl of chili at the Glenwood Springs restaurant March 31.Wendys turned over the investigation to its insurance company, and those results were inconclusive, said David See, the Glenwood Springs Wendys franchisee. Wendys investigates each claim of foreign objects in its food, but dont necessarily figure out how the object got there, said spokesman Denny Lynch.In addition to the insurance company, Wendys had the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment inspect the restaurant.The CDPHE found no evidence of rodents or any way that a mouse could get into the chili, said Patti Klocker, assistant director of the departments consumer protection division.The CDPHE inspection records back to January 2001 show no major infractions or reports relating to mice or rodents. Some inspections showed no infractions at all.The claim was somewhat suspicious because it came on the heels of a high-profile case in which a woman claimed to have found a human fingertip in a bowl of Wendys chili in San Jose, Calif. The woman in that case was arrested for mounting what is suspected to be a hoax.Wendys International has had 20 claims of people alleging different objects in its food nationwide since the San Jose incident, Lynch said.But the Glenwood Springs Police Department officer who took a report on the incident didnt have any reason to believe that what he was told wasnt true, said chief Terry Wilson. As of this week no claim had been filed with Wendys insurance company, See said. No claim has been filled in Garfield County Court involving Wendys, either.


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