These are the answers you find to your questions:
1. How long ago did you purchase the salt?
The customer purchased the box of salt a few weeks ago from the grocery store.
2. What do the insects look like and where have you found them?
The insects are brown in color and are very small -- perhaps only the size of the head of a pin. She found them in the salt box, the salt shakers and in her flour and sugar supplies.
3. Name two reasons why you think the insects originated from the salt box and not from some other source in your kitchen.
The customer believes that the insects originated from the salt box because she found them in the salt box and in the two salt shakers. She also doesn't see how the bugs could get out of the salt box unless she poured them from the box to the salt shakers.
4. Could you please read the number of the package again so we can trace it through our distribution and manufacturing centers?
The package number is 65478 33241.
You tell the customer that the bugs are most likely weevils, a type of insect that gets into flours, sugars and other household food products. You also tell her that's she's correct to believe that no insects can live in salt. This leads you to believe that the insects either came from her kitchen or from the grocery store.
However, to be sure, you'd like her to send a sample of the insects to your lab. You also tell her that you will trace the salt box's origins to see if you can solve the mystery. You also advise her to throw out any goods with the weevils present and to wipe down the cupboards with bleach.