US: Needles found in Halloween chocolate candies

Authorities in the US are investigating needle-like items found inside Halloween chocolate bars across Pennsylvania and Minnesota. An estimated five children reportedly discovered the sharp objects inside wrapped up Twix and Snickers bars on 31 October.

Authorities have warned parents to check their children's Halloween candy stash to ensure no similar odd objects are present before their consumption. Police officials in Kennett Square in Pennsylvania said: "On 1 November, the Kennett Square Police Department received reports of Halloween candy that had been tampered with.

"Reportedly a needle type item was found inside five wrapped Twix bars given to four different children the evening of 31 October, 2015, in the Stenning Hills area of the borough." The chocolate bars along with the packing were sent for processing and testing on 1 November, said the police department.

"These reports can turn out to be any way, and right now it's an active police investigation," said Cpl. Chris Wills from the Kennett Square Police Department. "So what we're doing is we're interviewing the people who have reported the incident, we're trying to figure out where they were trick-or-treating at and we're trying to get more information from them."

Meanwhile, several other odd objects were reportedly found across US towns as well. At a property in in North Reading, Massachusetts, samples of Hyland's 4 Kids Cold 'n Mucus cough syrup was left outside for trick-or-treating.

A "piece of disposable razor blade" was also reportedly found inside a Snickers chocolate bar in West Virginia, reported Sky News. Despite all the odd object findings, there were no reports of injuries. No arrests have been made so far in connection with the odd objects.

It still remains unknown if the candies were tampered with by the suppliers, in store or by the people distributing them. "Kids are just out doing fun, innocent stuff, just getting candy with their family and something like this could ruin it for everybody," said a resident in the Chester County borough, reported The Telegraph. "That's terrible some people want to something harmful to our kids," said Janet Rodriquez, another resident in the neighbourhood.