Poisoned candy myths

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Poisoned candy myths are urban legends that malevolent individuals could hide poison or drugs, or sharp objects such as razor blades, needles, or broken glass in candy and distribute the candy in order to harm random children, especially during Halloween trick-or-treating.


Claims that candy was poisoned or adulterated gained general credence during the Industrial Revolution, when food production moved out of the home or local area, where it was made in familiar ways by known and trusted people, to strangers using unknown ingredients and unfamiliar machines and processes.[1] Some doctors publicly claimed that they were treating children poisoned by candy every day. If a child became ill, and had eaten candy, the candy was widely assumed to be the cause. However, no cases of illness or death were ever substantiated.

In the 1890s and 1900s, tests by the US Bureau of Chemistry and other state agencies on hundreds of kinds of candy found no evidence of poisons or adulteration.[2] These tests revealed that inexpensive glucose (from corn syrup) was in common use for cheap candies, that some candies contained trace amounts of copper from uncoated copper cooking pans, and that coal tar dyes were being used for coloring, but there was no evidence of the many types of poison, industrial waste, garbage, or other alleged ingredients. Eventually, the claims that children were being sickened by candy were put down to indigestion due to overeating, or to other causes, including food poisoning due to improper cooking, hygiene, or storage of meat and other foods.[1]

Development of the modern candy-tampering myth[edit]

Several events fostered the candy tampering myth.

The first event took place in 1964, where an annoyed Long Island, New York housewife started giving out packages of inedible objects to children whom she believed were too old to be trick-or-treating. The packages contained items such as steel wool, dog biscuits, and ant buttons (which were clearly labeled with the word "poison"). Though nobody was injured, she was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to endangering children. The same year saw reports of lye-filled bubble gum being handed out in Detroit and rat poison being given in Philadelphia.[3]

The second milestone in the spread of the candy tampering myths was an article published in the New York Times in 1970. This article claimed that "Those Halloween goodies that children collect this weekend on their rounds of ‘trick or treating’ may bring them more horror than happiness", and provided specific examples of potential tamperings.[4]

In 2008, candy was found with metal shavings and metal blades embedded in it. The candy was Pokémon Valentine's Day lollipops purchased from a Dollar General store in Polk County, Florida. The candy was determined to have been manufactured in China and not tampered with within the United States. The lollipops were pulled from the shelves after a mother reported a blade in her child's lollipop and after several more lollipops with metal shavings in them were confiscated from a local elementary school.[5]

In 2008, some cold medicine was discovered in cases of Smarties that were handed out to children in Ontario.[6]

Debunking the myths[edit]

Over the years various experts have tried to debunk the various candy tampering stories. Among this group is Joel Best, a University of Delaware sociologist who specializes in candy tampering legends. In his studies, and the book "Halloween Sadism: the evidence", he researched newspapers from 1958 on in search of candy tampering.[7] Of these stories, fewer than 90 instances might have qualified as actual candy tampering. Best has found five child deaths that were initially thought by local authorities to be caused by homicidal strangers, but none of those were sustained by investigation.[8]

Claims of stranger poisoning[edit]

In 1970, a 5-year-old boy from the Detroit area found and ate heroin his uncle had stashed. The boy died following a four-day coma. The family attempted to protect the uncle by claiming the drug had been sprinkled in the child's Halloween candy.[9]

In a 1974 case, Timothy O'Bryan, an 8-year-old boy from Deer Park, Texas, died after eating a cyanide-laced package of Pixy Stix. A subsequent police investigation eventually determined that the poisoned candy had been planted in his trick-or-treat pile by the boy's father, Ronald Clark O'Bryan, who also gave out poisoned candy to other children in an attempt to cover up the murder. The murderer, who had wanted to claim life insurance money, was executed in 1984.

Media and the myth[edit]

Despite the falsity of these claims the news media promoted the story continuously throughout the 1980s, with local news stations featuring frequent coverage. During this time cases of poisoning were repeatedly reported based on unsubstantiated claims or before a full investigation could be completed and often never followed up on. This one sided coverage contributed to the overall panic and caused rival media outlets to issue reports of candy tampering as well.

By 1985, the media had driven the hysteria about candy poisonings to such a point that an ABC News/Washington Post poll that found 60% of parents feared that their children would be injured or killed because of Halloween candy sabotage.

Advice columnists entered the fray during the 1980s and 1990s with both Ask Ann Landers and Dear Abby warning parents of the horrors of candy tampering.

"In recent years, there have been reports of people with twisted minds putting razor blades and poison in taffy apples and Halloween candy. It is no longer safe to let your child eat treats that come from strangers." –Ann Landers[10]
"Somebody's child will become violently ill or die after eating poisoned candy or an apple containing a razor blade." –Dear Abby[11]

Fundamentalist Christian tract publisher Jack T. Chick capitalized on the myth for proselytizing purposes.[12]

This collective fear also served as the impetus for the "safe" trick-or-treating offered by many local malls.[13]


  1. ^ a b Kawash, Samira (2013). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. New York: Faber & Faber, Incorporated. p. 27–72. ISBN 9780865477568. 
  2. ^ Kawash, Samira (2013). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. New York: Faber & Faber, Incorporated. p. 64–66. ISBN 9780865477568. 
  3. ^ "Deadly 'Tricks' Given Children in 3 States". The Milwaukee Journal. United Press International. November 2, 1964. p. A18. 
  4. ^ Klemesrud, Judy (October 28, 1970). "Those Treats May Be Tricks". The New York Times. p. 56. 
  5. ^ "Metal-Filled Lollipops Seized By Deputies At Elementary School - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando". Local6.com. February 14, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2009. 
  6. ^ "Cold medication discovered in Halloween candy". CBC. November 7, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008. 
  7. ^ Best, Joel (1993). Threatened children : rhetoric and concern about child-victims. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226044262. 
  8. ^ Best, Joel; Gerald T. Horiuchi (1985). "The Razor Blade in the Apple: The Social Construction of Urban Legends". Social Problems 32: 488–99. doi:10.2307/800777. 
  9. ^ Carroll, Aaron & Rachel Vreeman (2009). Don't Swallow Your Gum!: Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies about Your Body and Health. Macmillan. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-312-53387-8.
  10. ^ Landers, Ann (October 31, 1995). "Twisted Minds Make Halloween a Dangerous Time". The Sunday Courier, 7B. Retrieved on November 2, 2009.
  11. ^ Van Buren, Abigail (October 31, 1983). "A Night of Treats, Not Tricks". The Gainesville Sun, 13A. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  12. ^ http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0011/0011_01.asp
  13. ^ "This Halloween, Superheroes Will Head to the Mall". New York Times. October 20, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2012. 

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