Jawbreaker explodes - colour me skeptical

[reprise]

Taquandra Diggs said she was holding a large piece of jawbreaker candy in her hand and when she went to put it in her mouth, it exploded. The girl suffered severe burns on her face, neck and arm.

Jawbreaker candy explodes, burns Fla girl's face (http://www.local6.com/news/2491417/detail.html)

I can - just - think of a couple of scenarios under which a whole jawbreaker might be tampered with in a manner which might cause it to explode, but a piece of a jawbreaker?

[Tricky]

That's ludicrous. Everybody knows that it is Pop-Rocks and Coca Cola that explode.

...................................... or

"Taquandra, why are you eating that cherry bomb?"

[reprise]

On a positive note, the incident wasn't referred to as "a possible act of terrorism" and it just might discourage kids from wanting to go "trick or treating" this year. ;)

[zakur]

Originally posted by Tricky
That's ludicrous. Everybody knows that it is Pop-Rocks and Coca Cola that explode.

...................................... or

"Taquandra, why are you eating that cherry bomb?" What's ludicrous is that someone would actually name a child 'Taquandra.'

[Occasional Chemist]

"I can't say if it's a product defect or if it's tampering at this point in time," Bradford County sheriff's Lt. Kenneth Hinds told WJXT-TV. There was also some speculation that the candy was left in the sun, the liquid inside was boiling or had some chemical reaction.


But ... there isn't liquid inside a jawbreaker. If it got hot enough to melt the sugar center, it'd sure as heck be too hot for the girl to pick up.

[LW]

Originally posted by Tricky
[B Everybody knows that it is Pop-Rocks and Coca Cola that explode.
[/B]

About fifteen years ago a beer bottle exploded inside our refridgerator. There were glass shards and beer everywhere.

[Tricky]

Originally posted by LW
About fifteen years ago a beer bottle exploded inside our refridgerator. There were glass shards and beer everywhere.
That is horrible! A beer is a terrible thing to waste.

[richardm]

Originally posted by Tricky

That is horrible! A beer is a terrible thing to waste.


Oh, the humanity!


... on the subject of the story, does it not seem a bit more likely that Taquandra was playing with something she shouldn't have been, and invented the Exploding Gobstopper story to cover her tracks?

[arcticpenguin]

Wouldn't a piece of a cherry bomb look a lot like a piece of a jaw breaker?

[Occasional Chemist]

Originally posted by richardm
... on the subject of the story, does it not seem a bit more likely that Taquandra was playing with something she shouldn't have been, and invented the Exploding Gobstopper story to cover her tracks?

I admit that I'm stumped coming up with a chemical reason that a gobstopper (basically a big sugar ball) would explode when a girl brought it to her face.

I'm equally puzzled about the piece of the gobstopper left:

http://images.ibsys.com/2003/0917/2491487_200X150.jpg

It looks like the offending candy is mostly intact (or either it's a bad angle). How did it blow her face off, then?

[Occasional Chemist]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
Wouldn't a piece of a cherry bomb look a lot like a piece of a jaw breaker?

Normally we chemists are against taste-testing samples in the lab, but in this case we might be able to make an exception.

[zakur]

To avoid claims of false advertising, the candy company should change the name of the confection from jawbreaker to faceburner. ;)

[diddidit]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
Wouldn't a piece of a cherry bomb look a lot like a piece of a jaw breaker?

Yeah, but with a smoking fuse? The mind boggles, yet again...

did

[arcticpenguin]

Family members said they bought the jawbreakers in July in Valdosta, Ga.

Two months ago - that leaves plenty of time for tampering after the purchase.

Nitrogen triiodide?

[Occasional Chemist]

Originally posted by zakur
To avoid claims of false advertising, the candy company should change the name of the confection from jawbreaker to faceburner. ;)

It'd have worked exactly as advertised if the girl had put it in her mouth.

[reprise]

I'm waiting for updates on the condition of the ants.

[reprise]

FWIW, the most likely explanation for the magical exploding jawbreaker is that either the child herself or someone else (a sibling playing a prank perhaps) microwaved the jawbreaker.

[peptoabysmal]

I guess they will have to change that commercial that says something like "an explosion of flavor".