Overview
- Children who went door‑to‑door on Halloween found needles, nails, screws and other metal objects hidden in wrapped sweets such as chocolate bars, chewy candies and wafer slices.
- Investigations have been opened in many federal states, with some cases taken over by state criminal police units and inquiries generally pursued on suspicion of attempted dangerous bodily injury.
- At least three children have been reported hurt with mostly minor mouth or tongue injuries, including a five‑centimetre needle wound in Lower Saxony and a child in Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern with minor oral injuries.
- Police warn parents to inspect treats, keep suspicious sweets and their packaging intact and not remove foreign objects so trace evidence can be preserved for forensics and possible prosecution.
- Authorities say the origin and motive remain unclear because children visited many houses, one earlier report was later ruled an accidental inclusion, and similar isolated finds have appeared in other countries in past years.