FDA Finds No Evidence of Contaminated Pepsi Cans

Federal Food and Drug Administration chief David A. Kessler said Thursday that investigators have found no evidence to support suggestions that syringes were placed in Pepsi cans as part of a nationwide tampering scheme.

There have been dozens of reports from 23 states that needles have been found in Pepsi cans, and at least six people have been arrested for allegedly filing false claims.

But sources close to the investigation said the report that started it all--from an 82-year-old man in Tacoma, Wash., who found a syringe in a Diet Pepsi can on June 9--may have stemmed from a mistake.

The sources say that although the man believed that the can had been tampered with, investigators have learned that the mother-in-law of the man’s daughter is a diabetic and may have disposed of the syringe in a soda can--a protective measure recommended by the American Diabetes Assn.

“Reports of tampering breed additional reports,” Kessler said at a news conference in Washington. “It is a vicious cycle. That is what we believe happened here.”

Kessler said more arrests are expected. “Let me stress one point, and I am serious about this: We will prosecute false reports of tampering.”

Making a false report to federal officials is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The latest arrest took place in Covina, where Maria Luz Martinez, 62, was taken into custody at her home Thursday morning after admitting to federal investigators that she had made up her story about finding a plastic syringe and a needle in a can of Diet Crystal Pepsi purchased at a Super K store on Citrus Avenue.

Martinez, a Mexican citizen, was arraigned in Los Angeles federal court on charges of making false, fictitious and fraudulent statements to federal officials.

She was accused in a criminal complaint of placing the syringe in the soda can to play a joke on her daughter. She said she told the false story to police because she was too embarrassed to admit the whole thing was a prank, the FDA said. Her passport was confiscated and she was released on $5,000 bail.

The first person arrested was Christopher J. Burnette, 25, who was detained Monday in Williamsport, Pa., after FDA investigators concluded that his story about finding a needle in a Pepsi can was untrue. He was arraigned Wednesday on federal charges of making a false report.

A man in Rantoul, Ill., was charged with making a false police report after he admitted inventing his tale about finding a syringe in a Pepsi can, and a man in Branson, Mo., was taken into custody after federal officials concluded that his claim of finding a needle in a Pepsi can was a lie.

Federal officials said Debbie Lynn Branham was arrested in Albion, Mich., and Kelly Fitzwater, 29, was arrested in Beach City, Ohio, but details of those cases were not available.

Other people are said to have conceded that their claims might not be true, but they have not been charged. They include:

* A single mother in Davis who told police that she made up her story to get on television.

* A woman in San Diego who allegedly confessed to Pepsi officials that her account of a syringe found in a can of Diet Pepsi was a lie.

* A woman in Herrin, Ill., who reneged on her tale that she was stuck in the tongue by a needle in a Pepsi can. Police say the woman later decided that the needle “may have fallen off an article of clothing.”

The additional needle-in-a-can claims are yet to be challenged by officials. The claims in California include reports from Brea, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hayward, San Jose and West Hollywood.

The report in West Hollywood was made Tuesday by James Russell, 30, who told sheriff’s deputies he found a bent hypodermic needle inside a Diet Pepsi can he opened during a meeting. “He got real nervous and real shook by it,” said Don Carr, who told a reporter he sat beside Russell at the meeting.

Deputies said they turned over the information to federal officials. Russell, reportedly a visitor, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

In unrelated incidents, a Simi Valley nurse’s aide said she found an X-Acto-type knife blade Thursday in a can of Vons soda that she shared with a co-worker, and a man and his son said they found a small sewing needle in a can of Coke purchased this week at a Pasadena supermarket, authorities said.

Neither Alina Hernandez, 23, nor the other woman were hurt, police said. Vons Supermarkets dismissed the incident as an isolated case, but the company ordered cans of Vons’ caffeine-free diet root beer with a similar production date pulled from the shelves in its three Simi Valley stores, Vons officials said. That turned out to be fewer than a dozen cans.

Simi Valley police confiscated Hernandez’s can and the blade and turned them over to the FDA.

Authorities said the man and his son, who were not identified, brought the needle to California Highway Patrol headquarters on Vermont Avenue at the Hollywood Freeway on Thursday night. It was then turned over to the Pasadena Police Department, which is investigating the claim.

The first Pepsi complaint was filed in Tacoma by Earl Triplett, who told authorities that he had found a hypodermic syringe in a can of Diet Pepsi. Triplett had gone to bed after drinking a regular Pepsi, sources said, and the next morning he found a can of Diet Pepsi containing the syringe in the place where he had left his can.

Investigators have determined that Triplett’s 60-year-old daughter, who has access to his house, has a mother-in-law who is a severe diabetic. The diabetic could have placed the syringe in the soda can as a protective measure before disposing of it, sources said.

The American Diabetes Assn. advises patients to place used hypodermic needles inside containers, such as coffee cans or heavy plastic bottles, and to close the containers with a lid or tape before throwing them out.

The woman normally receives insulin by tablet but takes the drug by injection in emergencies, sources said. They said she is believed to be hospitalized with a diabetes-related problem. Investigators are seeking to interview Triplett’s daughter, the sources said.

Kessler said the FDA’s conclusion that there has been no nationwide tampering scheme is “based on the large number of geographical locations of bottling plants, production dates that are months apart and the variety of products and containers involved.”

In addition, he said, forensic analyses “have found nothing to link the cases, or to indicate that tamperings have occurred,” he said.

Pepsi spokesman Gary Hemphill said the company is “very vindicated and happy the tide has started to turn.”

“We felt all along that a lot of these cases were of a suspicious nature,” Hemphill said. “We have always been confident in the safety and quality of our products, so we’re really heartened.”

Times staff writers Marlene Cimons in Washington, Ken Ellingwood in West Hollywood and Mack Reed in Simi Valley contributed to this story. Ostrow reported from Washington and Malnic from Los Angeles.