Candy Safety During Halloween Trick or Treat

Do you trust that old witch in the neighbor when it comes time to trick or treat? Nearly every neighborhood has one? It's the woman or man who complains about your dogs, about you walking on their lawn--you know which old bat we're talking about! Halloween is a holiday in which children go house to house with a bag and say, "Trick or Treat," to receive candy. Here is some really gross candy people have been known to buy or make for Halloween parties.

CANDY TIPS:

• Make sure it is wrapped in manufactured, sealed wrapping
• Avoid healthy apples or popcorn balls and other such items where needles and razor blades could be inserted
• Have parents inspect the candy (though that really is no guarantee)
• Go to a free clinic where they do cursory Halloween candy x-rays (don't know if there are many around)
• Go to houses you know in the neighborhood and if you're really freaked out, write down with sticky notes the address on each item
• Don't eat cupcakes and brownies (can be spiked with marijuana and other ingredients)
• When in doubt, throw it out
• Avoid foods kids can choke on (jaw breaker balls, gum balls)
• Spit it out if it tastes funny, and keep the item for evidence for a few days, then throw it out if you're OK

The entire premise of trick or treat is that if you don't give the kids something GOOD to eat, they'll egg your house.

If the nightmares of life weren't enough to cope with, the media helps feed the fears of each and every parent of child out trick or treating, by reminding them of the incident nearly 40 years ago in which a parent poisoned his very own kids' candy for money to collect in a life insurance policy after they died. The national panic meter shot up and to this day, we all live in fear over the thought of someone tampering with the Halloween candy. (That guy who spiked his own kids' candy and killed one of them was Ronald Clark O'Bryan. He died of lethal injection in 1984 and Texans no longer worries about one of their infamous criminal minds.

We know you want to dig into your goody bag ASAP, but your parents need to check your candy before you eat it! Throw out anything that's unwrapped or homemade, unless you personally know who made it and gave it to you. If you have a younger sibling, it's a good idea to get rid of any treats that could be easily choked on, like gum, peanuts and small, hard candies.

Events are not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to confirm before going.