Lawsuit Prompts Removal of Nissin Food Products

Hughes Markets has pulled all Nissin Food products from its stores because a woman has charged in a lawsuit that she found part of a rat in a package of Cup O’Noodles she bought at a Canyon Country Hughes store.

Harland Polk, vice president of sales for Hughes Markets, said the chain’s shelves on Tuesday morning were stripped of nearly 1,000 cases of Nissin products--including Cup O’Noodles, Top Ramen and Ramen Classic--while the incident is being investigated.

Mike Sakai, manager of marketing for Nissin, said: “We have no knowledge of this incident. . . . I don’t see how it could happen here.”

Hughes and Nissin were named in a lawsuit filed Friday in San Fernando Superior Court by Robert and Sharon Mathie, who said they purchased a Cup O’Noodles Oriental Jan. 6 at a Hughes Market on Soledad Canyon Road.

On Jan. 20, while sharing the meal with her 4-year-old daughter, Sharon Mathie said she discovered part of a rat in the cup, the suit said.