Tampering Scare

* In response to “Pepsi Case Was Quick to Tamper With Public Mind,” June 18:

No, not bizarre, sick is the word to describe the Pepsi syringe scare. Any society that can’t or won’t get out and vote, yet has time to dream up and report to officials what “isn’t” in a soft drink can, has got to have hit bottom.

MARY MEYER

Pasadena

* The modern urban folk legend is alive and well! The latest twist on an old genre has Pepsi officials hoping people will remember the truth and not “remember back when there were all those needles in the Pepsi cans.” Belief in legends like these causes thousands to X-ray their children’s candy at Halloween--though no one has ever found anything more than caramel fillings.

As we remove ourselves further and further from the process of growing and slaughtering our own food, the common fear of eating ghastly objects will increase dramatically. Pepsi will not suffer economically from this hysteria. But perhaps companies in the future may not be so fortunate.

ED LEATON JR.

Los Angeles