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YORKTOWN, Va. - Jacob Fisher says he bought a jar of JIF Creamy Peanut Butter in May of this year, and since then he has made dozens of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for himself and his 2-year-old toddler - until a few weeks ago.
"I'm making my daughter, Azalea, a sandwich and I'm getting these quarter- or nickle-size spots that wouldn't flake out. I just thought it was dried peanut butter," Fisher told WTKR.
So, he gave his daughter a sandwich and then made one for himself. And that's when he gagged.
"I ran and grabbed the sandwich from her, and all I could see were little legs and paws and a torso is what made sense to me," he said.
At his home on Wednesday, Fisher showed us what he claims is a small, deteriorating mouse inside the jar. He has kept the jar and the half-eaten, half-made sandwich in his freezer for weeks.
"If you look up close, you can see there is a finger, there is a hand, leg, backbone and a head," he pointed out with a toothpick.
Fisher says he unsealed the jar before using it, so he is adamant and claims that the rodent must have made its way into the JIF jar during the manufacturing process.
"We weren't dying like we can't move, but it was like we kept getting indigestion after we ate the sandwiches, like acid reflux where you just gotta sit down a few hours," he explained.
A physician hasn't confirmed Fisher's claims, as he has yet to see one.
"But I am concerned there are diseases. I have no idea if we have a disease; I think rats carry like 30 diseases," he said.
Fisher says he called JIF, owned by Smucker's, right after the incident in early August. They said they would send him an email with postage to send the items back. They never did.
He told WTKR he called numerous times before finally getting an email yesterday with the information on how to send back the product.
JIF sent us this statement as well:
Fisher was asked how the general public should believe he didn't plant the alleged rodent in the jar.
"Do every single test you possibly can, every single one. Put me on a polygraph, it don't matter," he said. "I 100% know for a fact that rat or that mouse has been in that thing since it was manufactured."
Fisher says he wants an apology from JIF and action taken.
"I'm scared to buy anything. It's like I double-think everything now, like, 'How can this get in my jar, and what is safe and what is not?'" said Fisher.
He says he is consulting with personal injury attorneys to see if he should file a lawsuit. He says he will soon send off the items to the company.