Halloween Tip #21 – Tainted Halloween Candy – Fact or Fiction?
It’s unfortunate that we live in a society today where the question of tainted candy needs to be questioned. What can possibly be more heinous than someone putting something in a child’s candy that can drug, sicken, or even kill him/her?
Fortunately, although tampering of Halloween candy does happen sporadically, it is actually a myth that it is as prevalent as we may be led to believe. In the years past the majority of such stories were fueled by the media as well as hearsay opposed to factual information.
This fear dates back to the mid-1960’s when an upset New York housewife, angry so many “over-age” trick-or-treaters knocked on her door, that she created some special treats and labeled them with the word, “Poison.” The package contained steel wool, dog biscuits, and ants’ buttons. No one was hurt but this created a national panic.
The New York Times, even columnist Ann Landers in future years, continued to warn parents of tampering. The warning came that somebody’s child would become violently ill, or even die, after eating tainted candy.
Two researchers, Gerald Horiuchi and Joel Best collected data on candy tampering at Halloween. They discovered 76 reports of tampering. Their results, however, found that most of the reports were not true while others were fraudulent. Unfortunately, of these 76 cases three children died – even so, we need to look more closely. One boy died because his father gave him arsenic laced candy in order to collect a large insurance claim. In the second incident a boy found his uncle’s stash of heroin, ingested some, and then died. The third case involved a girl who had a fatal seizure. The seizure was first blamed on tainted candy but it was later discovered to be the result of a congenital heart condition.
Trick or Treat? Discuss the possibilities of tainted goodies with your child. When s/he arrives home go through the bag and remove anything that looks tampered with or anything that seems suspicious. That is the trick in earning the treat. Treat yourself right now by visiting us at CarvingForKids.
