Trick or treat takes sinister turn for German kids
Dangerous objects, including metal needles and magnets, have been found in sweets collected by children during Halloween celebrations in several German federal states, according to local police.
The first reports came from Thuringia, where children in the village of Wintzingerode found metal needles in several sweets after doing trick or treat activities. A similar incident was reported in Herbsleben, where a needle was discovered in a chewy candy. Police are investigating which houses the children had visited before finding the contaminated treats.
In Baden-Wuerttemberg, two families in the town of Filderstadt found several needles in milk-and-hazelnut wafer bars. Metal objects were also discovered in sweets in Rielasingen-Worblingen. In Bavaria, parents in Landshut found screws and other sharp metal objects in candies and chocolate bars, while children in Nuremberg discovered needles in chocolate.
Similar reports came from Lower Saxony and Bremen. In Hanover, a nine-year-old girl found sewing needles in three sweets. Another needle was discovered in a chocolate bar in the city of Salzgitter, while a nail was found in candy in Bremen.
A separate incident was reported in the Appenheim municipality, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where a nine-year-old boy found two tiny magnets, measuring about 2 millimeters in diameter, in a chewy candy. Police later determined that the magnets had entered the sweet accidentally and found no evidence of deliberate tampering.
As of November 1, no injuries to children had been reported.
Similar incidents have been reported in Germany in previous years. In 2025, a mother in Kiel found razor blades among her children’s Halloween treats, while a chocolate bar containing a nail was discovered in Bavaria in 2024.
Reports of suspected Halloween candy tampering have also emerged from North America. In the US, cases were registered in five states, involving needles, metal hairpins, wire, screws, and pins found in children’s treats. In Canada, police received reports from several provinces. In Toronto, a father found sewing needles and pins concealed in five Halloween treats, while authorities in Quebec began investigating two cases involving a needle and a metal pin. In Newfoundland and Labrador, police received three reports of small metal objects found in miniature chocolate bars.
