Adulterated Halloween Candy:

"Razor Blades in the Apples" Hoax

Sponsored link.

Every year, in early November, the stories hit the media: Some evil people have put razor blades, drugs, poisons, needles etc. in Halloween treats in order to kill or injure children.

This is one of the most tenacious of urban folk tales. Stories regularly appear in the media across North America, at that time, describing adulterated candies and apples. They are almost or completely untrue. An article appeared, we believe, in Scientific America some years ago on this topic. The authors traced back stories of poisoned food at Halloween and found that each case was without foundation. In 1997, Joel Best, a sociologist from a Southern Illinois University reported the results of a literature search of the razor blade hoax. The study went back 4 decades. He found about eighty cases of sharp objects in food; virtually all were hoaxes. The National Confectioners Association has run a Halloween Hot Line for over a decade. They have yet to verify an instance of tampering. Spokesman Bill Sheehan said: "These myths become truisms." ₆ 

This essay has been read by tens of thousands of visitors. Three have reported adulterated candy. One described a pin in a candy bar, about 20 years ago. The other lived in Saskatoon, SK, also about 20 years ago. He and his brothers were given several apples from a few houses in the neighborhood. He found a sewing needle imbedded in one. The police investigated, but no charges were laid because the persons responsible could not be identified.

There have been some real injuries, poisonings and deaths that have been thought (for a while) to be associated with adulterated candy: ₅

Often, the rumors are based on hoaxes created by children themselves.

_{A sad byproduct of these urban folk tales is that parents develop anxiety over a threat to their children that does not exist, or which exists at a very low level. Many children pick up the fears of their parents. Both end up believing that they live in a society that is far more violent than it really is. A second concern is that concentrating on the possibility of adulterated candy might deflect attention away from real threats, such as assault and car accidents.}

A companion folk tale is that Satanists collect black cats for sacrifice at this time of year. Many humane societies and other animal shelters refuse to allow black cats to be adopted in October to prevent any from being ritually killed. Occasionally, some teen-age Satanic dabblers have been known to sacrifice a small animal. However, this is an extremely rare event. Adult religious Satanists do not sacrifice animals or humans. 

References: