Halloween Safety Is Always A Concern

Halloween candy

Since the 1970s, there have been horrifying Halloween stories of children poisoned by chemicals in Halloween candy or injured by pins, needles and razor blades. Children were duly instructed by their parents to check each and every piece of candy before eating, yet in most cases, the worried parents checked for themselves. But all fears aside, are there any documented cases of Halloween horror? Also, why is the very real fear of children being struck by cars largely ignored?

Since the 1970s, Halloween safety has focused on the fear of contaminated candy. In 1970, 5-year-old Kevin Toson died from a heroin overdose. A few days later, officials found that the boy hadn't eaten heroin-laced candy, as originally believed. Rather, he had accidentally gotten into his uncle's heroin stash and the family had sprinkled heroin in the boy's candy afterwards to protect the uncle. Similarly, in 1974, 8-year-old Timothy Mark O'Bryan died from cyanide poisoned Pixie Stix in Houston, Texas. However, upon closer inspection, detectives found that the boy had in fact been poisoned by his own father. Even though these poisonings were far from random, parents still feared for their kids' safety amid the Halloween fun.

Another Halloween safety fear is that razor blades, pins or needles may appear in children's Halloween candy. However, this fear is largely unsubstantiated. Professor Joel Best reports that he's tracked at least 80 cases of sharp objects inserted into food since 1959 and all of them were hoaxes. Only ten cases resulted in injury that required a trip to the hospital or stitches, he added. Follow ups indicated that nearly all the cases were actually just pranks from the children or the parents. Even so, harsh prison terms were imposed in Canada, New Jersey and New York following razor blade laced apples in the 1960s, and many airports went so far as to suggest parents bring their kids' candy to their x-ray machines for safety's sake.

While the real danger of Halloween has been largely exaggerated, the urban legends and myths should not diminish the very real fears. From 1996-1998, there were 15,500 fires from October 30th - November 1st, causing 45 deaths, 175 injuries and $92 million in losses, reports the National Fire Protection Association. They say that arson activity is 10% higher around Halloween, and there is the additional danger from unwatched jack-o-lanterns. To stay safe, parents should make sure their Halloween decorations (like dry corn stalks) are away from electrical outlets or live flames, with pumpkins illuminated by flashlights or bulbs rather than candles. Additionally, all kids costumes should be made of flame retardant materials.