Filed under: Food, Consumer Ally, In the News
As the annual Girl Scout Cookie sales get into full swing, the group said it is getting complaints over its Lemon Chalet Cremes.The Girl Scouts said that the initial problems with the cookies this year is nothing like what they saw last year when a refund was offered to consumers who bought from certain cookie lots only to discover that the products had a bad smell and taste.
"We have not received many complaints," said Girl Scout Media Manager Michelle Tompkins. "There have been a few isolated incidents, as there are with any cookie."
Tompkins said the "isolated incidents" involved less than 200 cases of the cookies that were sent to New Mexico and Florida and had the lot code of 8652821. The complaints over the cookies were only in New Mexico.
Tompkins said cookie maker Little Brownie Bakers already replaced the boxes that drew complaints and that it's not unusual to have some complaints over a cookie product as a normal part of doing business. There is currently no "formal withdrawal on record this year," she said.
"The safety of our product is incredibly important to us," she said, inviting consumers who have an issue with the cookies to contact the national Girl Scouts office or Little Brownie Bakers.
But one Consumer Ally reader has had no luck getting a refund for the cookies that made him vomit and that's when Rick Riffel of North Carolina turned to us.
He bought the Lemon Chalet Cremes in December near Jamestown, N.Y. and said the cookies "were horrible, tasting awful and smelling very very bad." When he contacted a local troop, Riffel was told that they had gotten a number of complaints. When he first contacted Kellogg's Little Brownie Bakers, he was told that he would be refunded. Riffel contacted the baker again Thursday and was told that they had no other complaints about the cookies this year.
Little Brownie Bakers spokeswoman Adaire Putnam sent the following statement to Consumer Ally:
"Little Brownie Bakers has heard from a few consumers informing us of a spoiled smell or taste from certain packages of Lemon Chalet Cr�me cookies. While the cookies are safe to eat, they are not up to our quality standards. As the quality of our products is a top priority for Little Brownie Bakers, we are working closely with the Girl Scout council that received these cookies to provide replacement product. Consumers with questions should call (800) 962-1718 or contact us at www.littlebrowniebakers.com."
Tompkins said that she didn't know what could have happened to Riffel's cookies but said that he could contact the Girl Scouts' national office for help. "I have no idea what happened," she said. "Maybe it was stored improperly.... we haven't received too many complaints nationally at all."
Little Brownie Bakers last year offered refunds to consumers who had bought cookies from certain lots, which it took off the market after complaints of the cookies' taste and smell.
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