CHICAGO — Some crime scenes are exactly the size of a breadbox.
Every year forensic scientist Brendan Nytes sees a few cases where a dead rat or mouse is found in box of cereal, a jug of vinegar or a loaf of marble rye. His job is to distinguish genuine contamination from the surprising number of cases involving the intentional introduction of a dead rodent to a perfectly wholesome food product.
While critters do make their way into food accidentally, many arrive with outside help, said Nytes, a microscopist with Microtrace, a private forensic lab based in Elgin, Ill. A careful postmortem may lead investigators to a litigious consumer, vengeful employee or maybe just a kid with a sick sense of humor.
When a product containing a dead animal arrives at the lab, Nytes reported February 26 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, he and his colleagues first scrutinize the crime scene. Gnaw marks on the inside or outside of the container may reveal a point of entry or an attempt to escape. Feces or urine within the container can indicate whether the animal arrived in its tomb alive.