The night of October 31, the eve of All Saints’ Day, also known as Halloween, is a holiday where children dress up in costumes and run around door to door collecting candy. Over the years, many urban legends have developed surrounding Halloween. One of the most common is that strangers implement poisons, razor blades and even needles into the candy and give it out to children on Halloween. Because it is so terrifying, many people find this scenario believable.

The ironic thing about this myth is parents tell their kids 364 days every year not to take candy from strangers precisely for precautionary reasons. Yet, on Halloween, they allow their children to gather candy from every house in the neighborhood.

And on this one occasion, trick or treaters and their parents should be cautious when it comes to the candy they are taking from strangers because of the possibility that someone may have tampered with the candy before giving it away.

Checking Halloween candy can consist of looking for signs of tampering and throwing them away as well as throwing away pieces that may look suspicious or were hand made. If your children or people you know are going out on Halloween it is important to recognize these specific dangers so it can be a safe night for everyone.

Tell trick or treaters not to eat anything until they are home safely. Children may feel extremely tempted to eat the candy as soon as they get it. It can help to send them out with a snack in case they get hungry or simply offer them candy from the selection you will be giving out. Just make sure they can tell the difference between your candy and the rest of their candy by putting it into zip lock bag, for example. It can also help to warn the children that you or another adult must check their candy before they eat it. This action may frighten the children a lot more than you think so be careful with how you phrase it.

When the trick or treaters arrive home, examine the candy so you can see any of the following:

• Bumps under the wrappers.
• Punctures or holes in wrappers.
• Open or ripped wrappers.
• Discolored or stained wrappers.
• Objects poking from the candy.
• Candy that isn’t in the original wrapper.
• Candies that are a different size or color from all the others.
• Candy brands that are not familiar to you.
• Candy that has a strange scent.
• Candy that has passed its expiration date.

If any of these things are seen when examining the candy it is suggested that you throw it away. Also, throwing away any candy that have twist wrappers is always a good idea, considering those can be tampered with easily. Getting rid of homemade treats by strangers like popcorn balls, caramel apples and cookies will help as well.

It may also be good to consider alternatives to walking around door to door. Several malls, town halls, schools and businesses give out Halloween candy as an alternative to children knocking on strangers’ doors. However, if you’re still worried, you can ask your local hospital or care center if they X-Ray Halloween candy that night to be extra safe.

Following these precautions will help ensure that children have a safe and fun Halloween,