A 34-year-old Harare man has filed a court case against Delta Beverages after he claimed he discovered foreign objects inside a 300ml bottle of Coca-Cola.
In court, he said the items looked like worms.
The accused are vendor Violet Musandukwa and Delta Beverages, represented by Chenai J Chawafambira.
Both are charged with allegedly violating the Public Health Act.
During cross-examination, Shepherd Mukonomera testified that after drinking the soft drink, he began spitting out worms.
However, Delta Beverages’ lawyer told the court that what Mukonomera described as worms were actually maggots.
The company’s lawyer said the drink was submitted to a government laboratory, where a visual assessment reportedly identified the objects as maggots.
A later scientific test, he said, concluded the items were starch.
Magistrate Lisa Mutendereki postponed the matter to 18 May for the trial to continue.
The court heard that on 19 October 2023, along Mbuya Nehanda Street in Harare, Mukonomera bought the 300ml Coca-Cola from Musandukwa.
He allegedly drank about a quarter of the bottle before noticing unknown objects inside and spitting out what he had swallowed.
Mukonomera then filed a police report, which led to the arrests.
The remaining drink was sent for forensic examination, and a test report was produced.
