# Paranoid parents and Halloween candy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694 "2014-10-27T22:13:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/21 "2014-10-29T00:46:59Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Don’t forget the little boxes of raisins… could be rabbit turds. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/22 "2014-10-29T00:59:32Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Nothing new. When I was very young, in the late cretaceous period, we were warned about razor blades in everything, including packaged candy. We had to inspect each piece on the kitchen table boefore we coulde at any. I think these scary stories are part of the general Halloween scariness tradition. There were also stories of people putting drugs in candy. What drug addict is going to _give his or her drugs away_, to kids who won’t appreciate it, no less. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/23 "2014-10-29T01:14:45Z")
I can’t allow **Shodan** to bear that burden all by his lonesome. I volunteer to be the official SD taster for any Three Musketeer bars, York Peppermint Patties, and Junior Mints that anyone tries to poison your children with. It’s a sacrifice, I know… but DAMMIT, it’s time somebody takes a stand! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/24 "2014-10-29T01:36:11Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I can’t allow **Shodan** to bear that burden all by his lonesome. I volunteer to be the official SD taster for any Three Musketeer bars, York Peppermint Patties, and Junior Mints that anyone tries to poison your children with. > > It’s a sacrifice, I know… but DAMMIT, it’s time somebody takes a stand! I’ll take care of the pesky Dots, Sugar Daddies, Sugar Babies, Bit-o-Honeys and…sigh…I’ll take the rootbeer barrels. For the team. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/25 "2014-10-29T02:15:30Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > But apples were \*especially \*dangerous at the time. I confess, when I was a kid I hated getting apples instead of candy when trick or treating. Same for baked goods. So I started the rumor of razor blades. It worked much better than I expected. Nobody gives out apples or baked goods anymore. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/26 "2014-10-29T02:17:17Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > My point was that her mom was letting all the other kids take the risk (of discovering dangerous candy), and her daughter getting the benefit of threat discovery without bearing her share of the risk. That is actually very smart. Let the stupid people eat the untested foods first. If they become ill, only the smart will survive. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/27 "2014-10-29T02:48:03Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > My point was that her mom was letting all the other kids take the risk (of discovering dangerous candy), and her daughter getting the benefit of threat discovery without bearing her share of the risk. No, that’s just stupid. One, her daughter is under no obligation to eat her candy at a time of your choosing. Two, the only way _anyone_ can benefit from this threat discovery method is if some of them are “selfish”. If all the children “bear their share of the risk” and find poisoned candy, _all the children get poisoned_. They don’t get less poisoned just because somebody else got poisoned at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/28 "2014-10-29T11:25:21Z")
I quit giving out Halloween candy years ago. But now I don’t know what to do with all these damned razor blades… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/29 "2014-10-29T11:42:31Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > There were also stories of people putting drugs in candy. > > What drug addict is going to _give his or her drugs away_, to kids who won’t appreciate it, no less. I’ve always wondered that myself… ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/30 "2014-10-29T12:04:17Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > There were also stories of people putting drugs in candy. > > What drug addict is going to _give his or her drugs away_, to kids who won’t appreciate it, no less. It’s the drug dealers doing it! To get the kids hooked on the drugs! Everybody knows that the best way to get new clients is to give out products for free, disguised as something else, so nobody knows what they’ve been given or by whom. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/31 "2014-10-29T12:41:55Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > My point was that her mom was letting all the other kids take the risk (of discovering dangerous candy), and her daughter getting the benefit of threat discovery without bearing her share of the risk. I know. I just thought it’d make an interesting argument for herd immunity. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/32 "2014-10-29T12:58:24Z")
It’s not qas crazy as that but I will say my dentist now has a candy buyback program. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/33 "2014-10-29T13:18:03Z")
Snopes pages on tainted Halloween candy. > **[Poisoned Halloween Candy](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/halloween-non-poisonings/)** > > Police have never documented actual cases of people randomly distributing poisoned goodies to children on Halloween. > **[Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pins-and-needles/)** > > Have pins, needles and razor blades been found in trick-or-treaters' loot? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/34 "2014-10-29T15:06:40Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > It’s not qas crazy as that but I will say my dentist now has a candy buyback program. I’d call that crazy. Couldn’t the dentist just give out free toothbrushes on Halloween, or something? Is candy that bad if your child doesn’t normally eat a lot, and brushes his teeth afterwards? What does the dentist do with all the candy? I did know a diabetic kid who went trick-or-treating with her friends, and then her parents let her pick one piece to eat, and after that, gave her a nickel for each piece. I think they added what she brought home to the bucket of what she gave out when she was younger, and there were still kids coming by for a couple of hours after she got home. I don’t know what they did in later years. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/35 "2014-10-29T16:01:57Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Why do people allow themselves to live their whole existence in a constant state of fear? Because it’s easier than using critical thinking skills? Because then you don’t get to manipulate and control people? Because it makes them feel superior? That’s just to name a few reasons why. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/36 "2014-10-29T16:16:49Z")
My mom inspected all of our Halloween candy, too. She’d look through all of it, and any Mounds or Almond Joy she found looked really suspicious, and had to be confiscated. Yes, my sister and I knew what was going on, but neither of us was all that fond of coconut, so it worked out. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/37 "2014-10-29T16:30:05Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > No, that’s just stupid. One, her daughter is under no obligation to eat her candy at a time of your choosing. Agreed - I was being somewhat facetious about that (but not about anti-vaxxers). > [@Grumman](#): > > Two, the only way _anyone_ can benefit from this threat discovery method is if some of them are “selfish”. If all the children “bear their share of the risk” and find poisoned candy, _all the children get poisoned_. Sure, if they all eat exactly the same piece of candy, from the same source, at the same time. But that’s extremely unlikely, unless a deliberate effort is made to coordinate candy consumption among all the kids. Easier (and safer for the herd) if you let the kids eat the candy on their own whim, and then report any adverse outcomes to the group. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/38 "2014-10-29T18:48:35Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > _:GASP!:_ > > _ **Radioactive** candy!_ Oh, pish and pshaw. My Halloween haul had been x-rayed many times when I was a pup, and it didn’t do me any harm. And people hardly comment on the third eye and tail anymore. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/39 "2014-10-29T19:19:25Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > Oh, pish and pshaw. My Halloween haul had been x-rayed many times when I was a pup, and it didn’t do me any harm. And people hardly comment on the third eye and tail anymore. I wasn’t aware that cyanide and LSD showed up on x-rays. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694/40 "2014-10-30T09:13:51Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > One year, the daughter received a rather unusual treat: an individual box of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. My wife couldn’t resist. “Watch out, Ellen. This might be the work of a cereal killer”. Well, you can certainly find out easily enough. Was the cereal dead? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranoid-parents-and-halloween-candy/702694.md?page=3)