Candy handed out at Santa Fe homecoming parade was tainted with needles, police say

A Halloween urban legend reportedly came true in Santa Fe, Texas after parents reported finding needles hidden in candy that had been thrown to their children at a parade.

The Santa Fe, Texas Police Department issued a warning on social media advising parents to "thoroughly check" any candy they picked up during the parade.

"Santa Fe PD has received several calls from concerned parents after today's Homecoming Parade because of pen style needles found in candy picked up at the parade," the Facebook warning says, adding that parents reporting the tainted candies had been standing at various points along the parade route.

The department has asked anyone with any knowledge of the incident to reach out, and is asking parents to thoroughly check the candy they picked up before giving it to their children or eating it themselves.

There had been no reports of injuries at the time of publishing.

Authorities said anyone with any information should contact the Santa Fe Police Department non-emergency line at (409) 925-2000.

The parade began at 6pm on Wednesday.

Stories of poisoned candy or chocolate bars hiding needles or sharp glass are frequent in the U.S. around Halloween. The stories can be terrifying for parents who just want to keep their children safe during the holiday, but few of the accounts are ever actually substantiated by police.

For instance, many commenters on the Santa Fe Police Department’s post were questioning whether or not there was any actual evidence to substantiate the reports of tainted candy.

“Can we please have more evidence other than 1 picture? That sewing pin (not a ‘needle’) could have fallen off a decoration, mum, boutineer, sash, a number of things,” one resident wrote in response to the post. “Just trying not to get all freaked out over a simple misunderstanding.”

A clinical and forensic pyschologist, Dr Joni Johnston, broke down the legends in a Psychology Today column in 2015. "The legend of poisoned Halloween candy has been circulating for decades, but in all that time, there has never been a single documented case of a deranged individual randomly poisoning children’s Halloween candy," she wrote. "And, while there have been a few instances of candy and fruit laced with sharp objects, 75 percent of them have resulted in no injuries and no one has been severely harmed."