Needles, nails, pins found in Halloween sweets across Austria, Germany

Austrian police have launched an investigation after small metal objects such as nails, needles and pins were found in Halloween sweets at several locations across the country.

Police received 13 reports of metal objects found in sweets collected by children at Halloween, federal criminal police said in a statement on Wednesday.

Although no reported cases have required medical treatment, police urged parents and children to “carefully check … all Halloween sweets before they are eaten”.

“Any sweets that have clearly been tampered with must be kept together with their packaging and reported to the police,” they said.

Federal police were coordinating an investigation into the incidents, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and police chief Gerald Tatzgern told a press conference on Tuesday.

The 13 cases have been reported in four provinces, the police said: three in Lower Austria, three in Upper Austria, one in Salzburg and six in Styria.

In Lower Austria, a 10-year-old girl suffered minor injuries to her mouth after biting into a chocolate that had a needle inside, the APA news agency reported.

In Upper Austria, a 28-year-old father in the city of Linz found nails in treats his children had collected and a mother found needles in sweets gathered by her 11-year-old daughter, it said.

Objects found in Styria included a needle, two metal pins and a staple, according to APA.

Trouble in Germany

Authorities in neighbouring Germany also reported several cases of small metal objects being found inside Halloween sweets. Nails, screws and needles were found inside some sweets collected by children, police said on Monday.

In Munich, a nine-year-old child who had been going door-to-door with friends on Saturday bit into a piece of candy containing a nail, though police said the child managed to spit it out without sustaining any injuries.

A nine-year-old girl injured her tongue after biting into a chocolate bar containing a pin at least 5cm (2 inches) long in the northern town of Bremervoerde, according to local police.

On the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn, police said an 11-year-old girl found a 3cm-long sewing needle inside a chocolate bar.

In the central town of Umpferstedt, metal staples were found in chewing gum collected by two children, aged 11 and 12.

Police launched criminal investigations into those incidents and others but no suspects have been identified. They said it remained unclear exactly where any of the children received the tampered candy during their rounds.

Halloween celebrations have grown in popularity in Germany since the 1990s, driven largely by American films and television programmes as well as commercial advertising and an interest in costume parties.