Students and staff at public schools in Monument and nearby communities won't be eating chips for a while.

Officials in the Lewis-Palmer School District have pulled all Frito-Lay products from vending machines and lunch lines after a student reported finding a mouse in a bag of barbecue potato chips Wednesday.

"When you consider the gross factor, I think everybody wants to see whatever we have removed (until) we have assurances from Frito-Lay that all their products are safe," district spokeswoman Donna Wood said Friday.

The eighth-grader bought the bag from a display in the lunch line at Lewis-Palmer Middle School. He noticed something odd and was horrified to find a mouse.

"He shakes the bag and lost his appetite," Wood said. "He turned a bit pale."

Wood said the mouse had clearly "been processed at some point."

"It was flattened," Wood said.

The student did not eat any of the chips, she said. He did quickly show the mouse to a nearby assistant principal.

School officials questioned the student as to whether it was a prank, Wood said.

"We questioned all of the students that were around the student that found it," Wood said. "We believe the student. He did find the mouse in the chips."

Plano, Texas-based Frito- Lay sent a courier to the school to pick up the chips. It was expected to arrive at company headquarters Friday, Frito-Lay spokeswoman Aurora Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said an investigation would begin immediately.

"This is an isolated incident and, frankly, is not a common occurrence," Gonzalez said. "Frito-Lay takes these reports very seriously."

She said the company has "high standards of quality."

"We haven't had any other calls related to this," Gonzalez said.

Wood said she was told the school district would get some answers by the middle to end of the upcoming week.

poppenj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5176