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Death by Chocolate – Man Dies After Falling into Vat

  • Susan
  • July 9, 2009
Molten Chocolate
Death by Chocolate

There’s a sweet treat on many restaurant menus called “Death by Chocolate,”but in this case, it came tragically true for an unfortunate worker at a chocolate factory in New Jersey.

The 29-year old man was killed after he accidentally fell into an eight-foot deep vat that was mixing and melting chocolate to be used in candy production.  The worker, Vincent Smith II, was standing on a platform tossing blocks of chocolate pieces into the tank, when he slipped and plunged into the hot, gooey mess. The large paddles that mix the chocolate hit him in the head, rendering him unconscious.

One of his co-workers ran to stop the machine, while two others attempted to pull him out.  However, by the time his chocolate-covered body was extracted, he was already dead of asphyxiation.

A former Campbell’s Soup Company facility, the plant is owned by Lyons & Sons and is leased to the New Jersey-based Cocoa Services, Inc. for processing chocolate.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident.  In July 2002, a 19-year old worker died in a similar manner when he fell into a vat mixing and melting chocolate in Hatfield Township, New Jersey.

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