Biting Worm-Ridden Candy Bar Results in ‘Creepy Feeling,’ Lawsuit

An Orange County man who said he unknowingly ate a Hershey’s bar infested with worms, webbing and insect eggs filed a lawsuit this week against Hershey Foods Corp. and Thrifty Payless Inc.

Neil Gregory bought the candy bar on Oct. 18 from a Thrifty store in Buena Park and took several large bites while driving away, according to the complaint filed in Orange County Superior Court. When he returned the bar to the store, a clerk told him the box the candy bar was kept in was also filled with worms.

But Gregory’s problems did not end there, according to the complaint. For weeks he felt “the creepy feeling that something was crawling all over” him. He missed work and visited doctors to be tested for parasites, according to the complaint.

Gregory is still in therapy, learning to cope with his horror at eating the worm-infested candy bar, according to the complaint. Gregory is seeking damages for negligence, liability and negligent infliction of emotional distress.