Tootsie Roll Machine Severs Worker's Finger In Gruesome Factory Mishap; Candymaker Faces Fines

Tootsie Roll Industries may be ordered to pay more than $136,000 in fines after one of its machines at a Chicago plant amputated part of an employee's finger this year following a gruesome factory mishap, the U.S. Department of Labor confirmed on Tuesday.

In a news release, the federal agency said that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a willful violation on Sept. 24 “for inadequate machine guarding,” proposing the fines following a probe into the April 19 incident, the Associated Press reported.

According to authorities, the 48-year-old employee was trying to pull jammed paper debris out from the machine when a bag sealer snapped shut on one of his fingers.

Investigators also noted the incident occurred just after the company changed policies, allowing the machine's access doors to remain unguarded.

“Hundreds of workers are injured needlessly each year because employers ignore safety guards, often to speed up production, and that’s exactly what happened in this case,” OSHA Chicago South Area Director James Martineck said, reminding employers to prioritize their people over profits.

“When they do and fail to meet their obligations to keep workers safe, we will take action to hold them accountable,” he added.

The company has 15 business days to comply with the recommended fines or request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, according to U.S. News & World Report.

However, Tootsie Roll Industries is contesting the findings before the independent OSHA review commission amid an ongoing internal probe within the company. Representatives for the business are expected to meet with OSHA for a dialogue, with hopes they could reach a mutually agreeable resolution.

Meanwhile, in Bolivia, a woman got the shock of her life when she nearly swallowed a rotting human finger from a hamburger she bought from her favorite Hot Burger chain in Santa Cruz de la Sierra last month.

According to Estefany Benitez, she noticed chewing on something unfamiliar while enjoying her order. The woman would then spit it out and to her horror, found out she almost ate a severed finger. Shocked and disgusted, the customer would then share her grim experience on Facebook, writing, "At the moment of eating, I chewed on a FINGER," the Daily Mail noted.

Her post is accompanied by images of the rotting finger along with videos of her confronting a staff, "Please tell me what you want and we will give it to you."

A company spokesperson would later confirm that a worker had apparently lost part of his index finger while preparing meat.