Needle-spiked Halloween candy reported in 2 more B.C. cities

A miniature KitKat bar with a needle inside is seen in a Kamloops RCMP handout image.

Parents in two more B.C. communities have come forward to report finding sewing needles in their children’s Halloween candy.

There have now been allegations of foreign objects in Halloween treats in half a dozen cities across the province, with the latest reports coming from Kamloops and Rossland.

The RCMP issued public notices about those incidents Tuesday, urging families in both cities to carefully inspect any candy their children collected Friday night.

B.C. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brett Urano told CTV News it’s too early to comment on whether any of the incidents reported since Halloween could be hoaxes, but recommended parents err on the side of caution.

“We just have to go with the information we’re received at this point,” Urano said. “So we’re really just requesting the public do their due diligence in making sure that things are safe for their children.”

Kamloops RCMP shared a picture of a miniature KitKat bar with a needle protruding from one end, and said the candy was believed to have been collected from the areas of Chestnut Avenue, Oak Street or Walnut Avenue.

“Given how the sewing needle is in the chocolate, the packaging may appear to be sealed,” Cpl. Dana Napier said in a news release.

While the Kamloops detachment described that chocolate as having been “tampered with,” authorities said they do not currently suspect foul play in connection with the needle-spiked candy found in Rossland.

Urano said local RCMP believe that treat might have been “mixed in with someone’s sewing stuff” inadvertently, in part because there was thread hanging from the needle.

That treat — which authorities only described as a miniature chocolate bar — was believed to have been collected from the Cooke Avenue area of Rossland, or the Lower Sunningdale area of neighbouring Trail. The parent who reported it said the candy’s packaging was noticeably ripped.

Police in Prince George and Delta are also investigating multiple reports of sewing needles or pins in children’s candy, none of which resulted in any injuries.

A parent came forward with a similar allegation in Chilliwack, though the local RCMP detachment has not responded to a request for comment from CTV News since Sunday.

In Surrey, B.C.’s second-largest city, police are investigating after a staple was allegedly found in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup collected from the Clayton Heights neighbourhood.