From razor blades to toothpicks, police across Ontario have issued warnings after a wide variety of items were reportedly found inside candy that children received on Halloween.
On Friday, provincial police in James Bay reported that a child had found a mini razor blade inside a Kit Kat minibar.
Police said they were still working to determine the source of the bar, which had been received while trick-or-treating in Cochrane, Ont.
Further south, provincial police in Bancroft said that a child had received a Coffee Crisp minibar with a rusty thumb tack poked into it.
#BancroftOPP urges parents to inspect Halloween candy after trick-or-treating, following a report of a rusty thumb tack found in a mini chocolate bar. Check for tears, unusual packaging, or anything suspicious. Report tampered candy to OPP at 1-888-310-1122 ^jd pic.twitter.com/6TwaL86qbu
— OPP East Region (@OPP_ER) November 2, 2024
On the East Coast, there was also an issue announced with an Ontario connection on Friday as well.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said two young people — who had been trick-or-treating together — each received a tin carton of pre-rolled cannabis joints among their treats.
Tremblay said the tins, which had a dozen joints in each one, appear to be sold in Ontario.
On Saturday, in Sault Ste Marie, police cautioned caregivers after a box of Smarties was given out to a child that was wet and appeared to have a hole in it from someone who was handing out candy from their vehicle.
And in another area of the province, Waterloo Regional Police said there were two separate incidents reported by caregivers in Cambridge with one seeing a toothpick rammed into a candy bar while in another incident a needle was found inside a Kit Kat minibar.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service is issuing a warning to members of the public after a needle and toothpick were located in two separate chocolate bars in Cambridge.
We are reminding caregivers to inspect all candy before they are consumed. Any candy that appears to have… pic.twitter.com/OJ1UQGkSow
— Waterloo Regional Police (@WRPSToday) November 2, 2024
Const. Brad Hickey told Global News that police send out the warnings as a general reminder of safety at Halloween.
“You like to think you can take your kids out to go trick or treat and there should be no safety concern but you’ve got to err on the side of caution,” he said.
Hickey offered that if parents do stumble upon foreign objects in candy, they should not eat it and report it to police.
“If you believe there’s something suspicious, such as in these incidents where a needle or toothpick is located inside the piece of candy, to please call police and at least have a report file,” he explained.
While it might seem weird to have only one or two of these reports, Hockey said that officers are trained to investigate the veracity of the calls.
“Obviously, once in a while you do get the false reports that happen, but typically, when you respond to a call, after speaking to someone, it’s usually typically pretty quick to determine whether or not there’s holes in the report,” he explained.
“When we’re responding to any sort of report or investigation, we ask questions and you look for holes in information and consistent information.”
