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A Dickson City woman chipped a tooth and swallowed a piece of metal while consuming Middleswarth barbecue chips, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Lackawanna County Court against the famous snack company.
Attorneys for Alicia Kandrac filed the suit against chip manufacturer Ira Middleswarth & Son, Inc. of Middleburg in Snyder County and the Gerrity’s supermarket in Luzerne, where she bought the allegedly tainted chips.
Kandrac suffered “traumatic” mouth injuries after chomping down on a screw that was mixed in with her bag of chips, according to the lawsuit filed by Kingston-based attorney Peter Biscontini.
Prior to biting the screw, Kandrac swallowed something hard — which she initially assumed was a burnt chip — that caused her stomach issues, the suit says.
Kandrac “was rendered sick, sore and disabled and sustained physical and mental pain, suffering and anguish, all of which have required medical care and treatment and which may require such care and treatment for an indefinite period of time into the future,” the lawsuit says.
Efforts to reach officials with Middleswarth and Gerrity’s were not immediately successful.
Kandrac “immediately” contacted Middleswarth following the incident in October 2023, but the two sides couldn’t come to a resolution and “unfortunately litigation was warranted,” Biscontini said.
“Although I can not speak to the merits of this case at this time, I would encourage anyone from the public who may have had a similar incident with Middleswarth to come forward to prevent further injuries,” Biscontini said.
Founded in Beavertown, Snyder County, in 1942, Middleswarth moved to Middelburg in 1961. The company manufactures 3,400 pounds of chips an hour, according to its website.
Middleswarth trucks its products to a series of 11 distributors in Pennsylvania, including a warehouse on East State Street in Larksville, according to the company’s website. From there, the snacks are distributed around the state, nation and world.
Chips and other snacks can be purchased on the company’s website and other sites that distribute Middleswarth products.
Kandrac’s lawsuit says it appears the screw and other metal could be traced back to Middleswarth production equipment and the company “caused, and allowed to exist, a hazardous condition.”
“The plaintiff did not tamper with the subject bag of Middleswarth potato chips (barbeque flavored) other than opening the top of the bag at the time of consumption,” Biscontini wrote in the lawsuit.
