The Pepsi-tampering mystery began unraveling as several claims of objects found in soda cans were pronounced a hoax. At least two people were arrested.
Police said at least three other people have recanted. And some experts said they wouldn't be surprised if all the cases turned out to be hoaxes, perpetrated by people out for money, attention or thrills.Pepsi-Cola Co. has suggested as much itself, saying it is virtually impossible to tamper with soda cans at its bottling plants.
"This development reinforces what we've believed all along - that this is not a manufacturing problem and that consumers should not be alarmed about any alleged problems with Pepsi products," President Craig Weatherup said in a statement.
A man was arrested in Williamsport, Pa., and accused of taking a hypodermic needle out of the trash and saying he found it in a Pepsi can. He could get up to five years in prison on federal charges of making of a false report. And a 21-year-old man in Branson, Mo., was arrested after investigators with the Food and Drug Administration concluded his claim of finding a needle was false.
A woman in Davis, Calif., admitted she had broken a sewing needle into pieces and put two in a Pepsi can, police said. Police in Covina, Calif., said a woman there confessed that she had fabricated her story about finding a syringe in a Pepsi. And a Marine City, Mich., woman told police she lied to protect her husband, who said he found a syringe, state police said.
An Illinois woman said the 21/2-inch sewing needle that stuck her tongue while she was drinking a Pepsi "may have fallen off an article of clothing," police said.
"It seems obvious that some of these tamperings are faked - and in the dumbest of ways. It won't be a surprise to me if all turn out to be faked," said Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist in Newport Beach, Calif. He is a consultant to the FBI in tampering cases.