For a Durrington couple the worst did happen – they found numerous shards of glass in the fizzy drink and were told anyone who had consumed the drink could start coughing up blood.

Andy Robertson, 22, and his wife, Sam, of Chiltern Crescent, bought a two-litre bottle of Dr Pepper from the Co-op in Salvington Road, Durrington.

The store was offering a buy one get one free offer on fizzy drinks, so they purchased one Dr Pepper and one Sprite.

Floating shards

Sam, 22, said: "We bought some drinks as we were having some friends and their children round.

"Andy poured some Dr Pepper into a glass and he saw a small shard of glass floating in the drink.

"We thought nothing of it and expected the shard had come from the actual glass itself."

The following morning, Andy, a cleaning supervisor, poured another glass of the drink.

Swallowing fear

After drinking most of it, he realised he had a large sharp piece of glass in his mouth.

"He fished it out of his mouth, alarmed and worried that he could have swallowed it," said Sam.

"It's a dagger of glass, that's how I'd describe it."

The couple, parents of two, phoned NHS Direct and were told to go straight to hospital because Andy could have swallowed smaller pieces of glass without realising.

"Then we called Worthing A&E, who said we could stay at home but should ensure Andy didn't make any sudden movements or receive blows to the stomach.

"Finally, they said if you start to cough up blood then go straight to hospital."

Investigation

Sam phoned Coca Cola, the owners of the Dr Pepper brand.

She said: "It's appalling and to think that one of our children or our friends' kids could have swallowed glass is frightening."

Coca Cola sent packaging to the family so they could post the Dr Pepper bottle and glass back to the company for an investigation and testing to be carried out.

However, the couple said the packaging they received was too small to fit a two-litre bottle.

"We won't find out how the glass got into the drink until they've checked the packaging and carried out tests, which is further delayed because of the incorrect packaging," said Sam.

"We just want an answer and hope it doesn't happen to anyone else."


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