PRODUCT TAMPERING CRIME - A REVIEW

Product tampering crime has become more common over the last ten years , with a single documented event often triggering an avalanche of fals e alarms, copycat cases, tampering threats, and falsified reports of s uspected tampering. Cyanide has seen widespread use as the toxic a-ent in many instances of product tampering, and is potentially the most l ethal of all agents used. Ingestion of cyanide through tampered food, drink or drug has resulted in the deaths of at least 14 people in the last ten years. This paper reviews prominent tampering incidents, exam ines their common features, notes the propensity for copycat cases, an d discusses apparent motives for product tampering, threats of tamperi ng and falsified incidents. The identification of three prominent cyan ide tampering incidents (two in Seattle, one in Chicago) is discussed, and the importance of requesting appropriate toxicological tests is d iscussed. Potential motives include terrorism, sabotage, homicide, ins urance fraud, malicious mischief, and attention seeking. The limitatio ns of tamper-evident packaging are noted.