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Would you x-ray your child's Halloween candy?
How far would you go to keep your kids safe on Halloween? How about scanning their candy with an x-ray?
Across the country, some parents will be doing just that. Dozens of medical centers and sheriff's departments offer free candy screenings so parents can be sure that nothing dangerous is lurking in all those Milky Ways and Snickers.
Paranoid, or justifiably cautious?
While reports of poisoned Halloween candy have inevitably turned out to be hoaxes (or murder plots by parents, yikes), Halloween candy studded with pins, needles, razors or glass is actually a real thing. It doesn't happen often, and there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries. But, it happens -- and that's enough for some parents to haul their kids' loot to the nearest x-ray machine.
But if we're getting paranoid, it's worth noting that kids are way more likely to be hurt by cars than by spiked candy. Halloween is the deadliest night of the year for pedestrians, and kids are four times more likely to be hit and killed by a car while out walking on Halloween night than on any other night of the year.
Joe Imel / AP
What's really in that candy? Some parents will go to great lengths to find out.
What do you think -- are candy x-rays a good idea, or should parents quit worrying about that and pay more attention to the real dangers of Halloween on the roads? Click here for safety tips for drivers and kids.
More Halloweeny goodness from TODAY Moms:
What kids think Halloween is really about
Seven worst costumes for kids
Confessions of a Halloween hater
Got costume guilt? You're in good company
Who ate all my chocolate? Candy confessions from the TODAY Moms-iVillage poll.
"Like" TODAY Moms on Facebook, and follow us @TodayMoms
Leave a Comment:
I feel sorry for the kids of these parents. They are going to be the ones growing up with Mommy and Daddy hovering over their every move and probably will be wrapped in bubble wrap for fear they will get hurt.
Hopefully they don't forget to prechew food for their kids so as to reduce the risk of choking. Nom nom nom spit. Nothing quite as good as ABC carrots and pot roast.
Im 35 years old. I have 8 children. I own My own home with land, a 24ft pool.. solar heated, lights for night swimming..fully decked.. actually several decks.. My kids have a replica of Our home for a clubhouse, they have a playground thats a standard play set similar to seen in parks, We have 2 cars. I Own My own business. I have 0 outstanding bills. I was NOT RICH No Silver spoon was in My Mouth- I earned and My husband earned everything we Own, I lived in low income housing as a child. My Mom was not existant, My Grandmother raised me.. She was soooo clingy omg unreal! she freaked if I washed my hair before leaving the house, she freaked if I sat to close to the tv, She demanded I be in with street lights and hawked over me to insure I ate My veggies.. and YES she...checked my candy... every year, until I stopped trick or treating at 13 yrs old. My husband was raised similar.
SOOoooo Ya I see what you mean.. My life is so frightful .. I pop every step I take from all the bubble wrap!!! All because my Ma was so paranoid... as you call it...
I call it- Love.
Was that cocky? maybe I shoulda asked myself that before I typed huh? Things My Ma told me.."If you have nothing nice to say dont say anything at all.. " When you do, speak the truth it makes your character stronger" And she also taught me "Stick up for yourself kid.. you can see more when your standing" Feel free to borrow and use any of these quotes to live by! "Its never to late to change"
Please excuse me, Its time for trick or treating =) Happy Halloween everyone.
What the heck are you babbling about? Pools? Decks?
WTH???
My Parents did it. But I dont let mine trick oor treat any way.... Too many pyshcos out there these days. I'd rather throw parties where there wasn't a risk......HAHAHAHAHHAHHA, gotcha.
ihold8stars are you for real haha? If you were really taught about love and whats pure in the world you would not measure yourself on your material possessions. I don't understand how your several decks make you a better person. (if I was one of your 8 stars more decks to hide from you, more pool to swim away. crazy) If you really wanted to brag, brag about how you are rich in family and your culture and how proud you are of your children and husband. You mam are the scariest thing I have come across on this Halloween, a bored housewife that only understands her immediate environment. Think larger, but you probably do have pretty sweet BBQ's! Don't worry I won't bring glass or splash tho........
More ignorant and paranoid dimwits being jerked around by the media fear agenda . There have been two .........thats right TWO legit documented cases of children being hurt by tampered with halloween candy.. Both cases involved family members poisoning thier own . Which indicates the paranozos Are far times more likely to poison thier own child than the neighbor is .
He who pouts about the "media fear agenda" calls other people "paranoid dimwits"? Darling, could the irony be any thicker?
The number of kids trick-or-treating seems to go down every year. With all the nutcases out there, more and more parents are opting for house parties for the kids on Halloween instead of going out trick-or-treating. It is shame that our society has gotten to the point where parents have to worry about people intentionally trying to hurt children. I remember trick-or-treating as a kid and the only rules my parents had were that we did not eat anything until we got home and they could check it out, and any candy or other treat that was not in a sealed package went straight in the trash. Some parents used to use these little bags to make up treats for kids with candy corns, hard candies, etc. but they stopped because they knew the kids would not get to eat them. I do remember the local hospitals offering to x-ray kids bags of candy for free, but my parents never got so paranoid that they saw a need to go to that extreme. It is pretty easy to spot if candy has been tampered with. This is why you do not see many reports of kids being hurt by doctored treats. It is hard to put a pin or razor blade into a piece of candy without it being pretty clear that something is wrong. The threat of doctored candy is overblown and is really just fear mongering on the part of the media to gain readership.
Easy there Christa , your insecurities are showing . Wheres the story of millions of kids enjoying the night and....................nothing happened ? Wheres the story of millions of kids attending school today and.............got educated ? Millions of men and women went to work today and................just did thier jobs . No pouting over that , read the headlines . And Im not much of a darling to a lemming . Matter fact Id rather give you directions to the cliff .
@EastRowanDad
I don't want to hear about "being jerked around by the media fear agenda" from a guy using Obama-Joker as the profile pic. It's like being lectured by Rush Limbaugh of the virtue of objective journalism.
The Joker is as the Joker does . Hes a lame duck and a disgrace .
@Desert Horse seriously ya im kidding My point was served- this 1st coment just peeved me off because as a mom I understand each parent has there own views and if those views are not child abusive then some comment are better off kept to yourself because they make one look like a donkey... Im not a bored housewive hun I really do own my own business. I just replied as uncaring as the op.. to prove a point that there was a much better way to reply- his post was just crazy to me.. seriously these parents r ruining the kids life because they check the halloween candy the fastest most effective way.. offered for free anyway.. really? I just dont think this should be lumped into bad parenting.. I dont even do it but I sure dont knock others because I dont live where they live, Im not in there shoes, I found his comment to be cold and thoughtless and tried to reply in the same tone guess just flew over head..
My 'little' brother had a razor in his chocolate bar (from Halloween) some 35 yrs ago around Berwyn, Illinois... Believe me... there's A LOT of sicko's out there!.... Better to be safe than sorry... This is a strange world!!!!!!!!!!
That's right; give your kids a healthy dose of radiation. Here's a thought, why don't you just take them to the houses of the people you know?
I think you're supposed to x-ray the candy, not the child.
(Not that it makes this story any less completely retarded.)
We live in a rural community so we'll be taking our kids into one of the cities rich neighborhoods for trick or treating. Not only will they score some great candy, we're confident the neighborhood and its residents are trustworthy.
Just because it is a rich community does not mean that the residents are trustworthy. Even the rich can be psychotic killers, rapists, child molesters - you name it, they're the same as the "poor or middle class" criminals. The only difference is they have money. I would not let a "trustworthy community" soften my guard to what my kids are putting in their mouths. I would check it anyway - just as my mother did when I went Trick-or-Treating.
You clearly don't belong to the Occupy Wall Street movement, AM I RIGHT?
Rich neighborhoods may give your kids awesome treats but they are stealing your 401k and giving it to the bank president at the same time. I would rather my kids trick or treat from someone who earned their money in a blue collar, rural neighborhood.
Forget the politics ... but did you really just say that wealthy people are better and more trustworthy than middle or lower-class people? You, my dear, apparently were dropped on your head as a young child completely knocking the common sense out of you.
If you look at the facts this person has the right idea. Most kidnappings are done by family members or friend or someone who knows the child. Every single Police or Hospital documented tampering of candy has also been by a family or friend so take your kids to a neighborhood where you do not know anyone would be statistactly safer. The Facts are that there are really not any more "nutjobs" out there today than there was 30 years ago, we just all have more access to hear about the ones that 30 years ago you would have not heard about unless it was in your city.
The tampered candy scare is largely the result of several hoaxes and false reports. Most of the children harmed by Halloween candy were harmed by the actions of a relative e.g., dad poisons kid's Tootsie Roll to collect insurance money. That being said, do what you think is necessary to protect your children, just don't let your kids know how paranoid you really are, you'll scare them. My reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_scare
In response to The person who is pissed at GOP: I suspect you take politics very seriously and therefore think you know a lot more than you actually do. Here's the truth, exposing an object to x-rays will not make the object emit x-ray radiation after it is no longer exposed to x-rays. If that were the case, everyone who has had an x-ray image taken of their body would be radioactive. Please know what you're talking about before saying something erroneous and causing more needless panic.
I love title it basically lays foundation for a one sided answer- as obvious in the 1st comment... do you even have kids? your right sombody needs to get outta there bubble! Look up local sex offenders... see how many surround your home..? Paranoid yet? Threats are very real just look up missing children.. Born & raised in Chicago this threat is very real and the service is free so why not use it? In the 80's parents hand checked candy and with good cause- glass shards, sewing needles, rat poison.. popped up frequently, specially in bad neighborhoods.. the thought was some folks didnt like the neighborhood changes so tried to scare the young an poor out- the reason we dont hear of many injuries is simple..not all get reported and candy that looks to maybe be tampered gets tossed..why because if the parents are wrong they dont wanna be called.......Yes....Crazy!!! so toss and move on..im sure many are guilty of this..oh no the wrappers off hunny we'll toss this one...
If you live in a low populated town (I have now for several years) and you know your neighbors well then you know your pretty safe... Im lucky. Most cannot because of cost, if your not self employed or hold a work from home jobs in small towns are few. Small towns are nosey but because we know our surroundings we are fast to attack the bad and keep it out of our town.
Bet me you if I had to move back into a big city an x-ray we would be a going... If you wanna be real sure only treat where you know.. ie.. go to the main strip of stores your less like to have any bad candy if you trick or treat from the business district.
WOW! If it bothers you that much just don't go!
Nah - anyone who owns a business and is as well off as you claim to be has at least decent writing skills, which you clearly do not.
Michael Ruth is speaking the tRUTH!
I've known everyone in my parents neighborhood since i was born. We're a close knit neighborhood and we love each other like family. We're very lucky to have such a great place to live. We're fine here.
Well, YOU don't have a problem, so what's the problem? YOU are all set, so what's the beef?
The razor blade in Halloween candy thing is a well known urban legend, and kids have been victimized annually by the paranoia it continues to create for decades now.
Agreed. It is a legend around since I was a kid, but it was Apples back then. Not that you shouldn't be safe and throw away open containers or wrappers, but xray? What have we come to.
The nearly-unanimous majority of poisonings and Halloween assaults are done by family members of the victim. This little X-ray charade is a solution without a problem.
This is so silly. The link in the article cites ONE case of stranger tampering, and notes the rest were typically pranks by other kids or hoaxes altogether. I'm sure it happens, but it is sooooo rare.
What a waste of time and money, not to mention knocking out a lot of the kids' fun...the best part was rushing home to dump all the candy on the floor and swapping with each other for your favorites. Now you have to go to get xray'd first? Not to mention adding one more layer of stranger paranoia to the kids' psyches...another generation or two of this and we won't be leaving our homes.
Really people, things aren't THAT BAD!
Sigh... Pretty soon all Trick-or-Treating is going to happen at the mall because neighborhoods are too "scary." No one is trying to kill your children, unless you have some sort of family drama going on. Let them go out and night and have fun and eat candy until they puke. It's what childhood is about, at least one night a year.
Rebecca Dube is the paranoid one. Just 'cause a parent takes the candy to be checked, that makes the paraniod? Your the paranoid one and you should be investigated for promulgating such wicked and evil accusations against a parent who concerned about the saftey of their God given child. You b a s t a r d s/w h o r e s will receive your own judgment upon yourselves for promoting such wickedness. A parent has the right to protect they're children. Stop acting like sodom and gomorrah before you receive the same thing they did. Wicked demons is what they are. Do not listen to them and stay away from those who tell you not to protect your own children from their demonic ways.
Do you ever let your kids out of their room?? Say to go to church or watch you and youur warlock friends dance naked under a full moon?
Wow .... you spout biblical references like someone who believes in God ... yet you call the writer a bastard/whore because their opinion differs from yours? Yeah, that is REAL Christian like! Hypocrisy such as that is what gives Christians a bad name. :(
Crazy!!!
Now now, would Jeebus use that kind of language on the Vine?
By the way, it's not halloween, it's H E L L O W E E N.
"Hmm...could it be..... SATAN?"
~Church Lady
There has never been one documented case of an actual "random" person poisoning Halloween candy for random children. ALthough there have been a few children killed by poison candy, they were specific targets.
Look up "halloween candy" on snopes.com
Let's see, 35 years ago some kid alledgedly found a razor blade in some candy. As a result, all kids should not trick or treat or have their candy pawed over and Xrayed. Aren't there more important things going on in a child's life that needs attention?
It is a smart thing to do. But not entirely necessary. Rest easy parents. Did you know that all cereal is X-rayed to check for metal shavings in the boxes before they ship out. You may not know this But EVERYTHING you eat gets X-rayed. Unless you killed it or grew it. Those X-rays are far far far weaker than a doctor's X-ray. More like an Airport X-ray if not even weaker. Plus X-rays have no effect on dead matter. You cannot cause a gene to mutate when its already dead. Evidence of X-ray in food disappears as quick as the X-ray based through the food.
Typo. I meant "Passed through the food"
Ridiculous! There has never, NEVER been a confirmed case of tampered candy (that wasn't the result of the kid's own parents). Plain fact is that the kids are most likely to be poisoned, abused, and/or murdered by their own family than by some stranger.
I was a kid when the razor blades were discovered in candy. The year that happened we did take our candy to the local hospital to have it x-rayed. At the time we thought it was kind of exciting to see what our candy looked like on an x-ray. After that, my mom would just make us cut the candy into pieces. If you want to take the time to get the candy x-rayed, more power to you. I think just breaking the candy into pieces is enough. Today I am in my 30's and I still break snack sized candies into pieces before I eat it...completely out of habit.