THE PROBLEM:

A law firm representing a world-renowned candy maker faced litigation involving a consumer complaint. The complaint was about glass fragments that were allegedly found in the candy maker’s top-selling candy bar.

THE ANALYSES:

An examination of all the submitted items, including opened and unopened candy bar samples, was performed utilizing a Zeiss Stemi 200-C stereomicroscope.

In order to look for glass on the interior of the candy bar, portions were excised from the bar and each portion was thinly sliced into a series of sections and examined by stereomicroscope. Sections were then dissolved and decanted through a sieve. The insoluble particles collected on the sieve were examined by stereomicroscope and polarized light microscopy (PLM) utilizing an Olympus BHSP microscope.

THE OUTCOME:

No glass was detected in any of the analyzed items. The case was dropped.