Melamine in Halloween Candy - anyone worried? [General]
2008 Oct 27
The middle ground for us was to 'screen' any treats before they ate them.
The fear of the kids getting something bad in their treats goes back to the sixties when razor blades in apples was the going concern.
Good thing they don't hand out (listeria laden) coldcuts as treats. Hehehe.
Just watch out for the White Rabbit Candy from Shanghai.
The fear of the kids getting something bad in their treats goes back to the sixties when razor blades in apples was the going concern.
Good thing they don't hand out (listeria laden) coldcuts as treats. Hehehe.
Just watch out for the White Rabbit Candy from Shanghai.
2008 Oct 27
Zym - My kids are all grown and gone now... but like Captain C said Hallowe'en Candy Safety has been an issue for as long as I can remember. It seemed to go thru cycles... Razor Blades and Acid in the 60s and 70s. Needles and Pins in the 80s and 90s.
We screened all the candy for first couple of years, then we just got tired of the worry that still hung over our heads, so we ended up letting the kids only go to people we knew. It meant more work for us in that we ended up driving the kids around a lot... but by the time our kids were around 10 more and more of our friends were doing the same thing.
One parent did the driving, the other stayed home and handed out candy. Whenever a kid came you knew, you gave them more (or better stuff), and the parents who knew which kids were being driven around by a parent, made sure that those kids got really special stuff to make up for the fewer houses. It just became something we all did as a group of parents (our kids had been together from pre-school). The kids never complained, they were too busy sorting thru the great loot they got (usually in the backseat of the car between houses). Although we did hand out candy etc., we also did things besides the junk, like loot bags with homemade cookies, and stickers or pencils, etc. Funny I have been hearing in the press that many people in the USA this year have decided that due to childhood obesity they are going to be giving out treats that are not candy... LOL guess we were just ahead of our time.
We screened all the candy for first couple of years, then we just got tired of the worry that still hung over our heads, so we ended up letting the kids only go to people we knew. It meant more work for us in that we ended up driving the kids around a lot... but by the time our kids were around 10 more and more of our friends were doing the same thing.
One parent did the driving, the other stayed home and handed out candy. Whenever a kid came you knew, you gave them more (or better stuff), and the parents who knew which kids were being driven around by a parent, made sure that those kids got really special stuff to make up for the fewer houses. It just became something we all did as a group of parents (our kids had been together from pre-school). The kids never complained, they were too busy sorting thru the great loot they got (usually in the backseat of the car between houses). Although we did hand out candy etc., we also did things besides the junk, like loot bags with homemade cookies, and stickers or pencils, etc. Funny I have been hearing in the press that many people in the USA this year have decided that due to childhood obesity they are going to be giving out treats that are not candy... LOL guess we were just ahead of our time.
2008 Oct 27
anything packaged from China goes to the bin this year. As well watch out for the chocolate loonies/coins. Costco sold these and they are tainted - so any thing that resembles a coin goes out. My kids get way way too much candy anyway, so besides feeling a little guilty about wasting food (a liberal interpretation on the word) - I don't feel at all bad for culling.
2008 Oct 27
I'm with sourdough on this one. IMHO (very humble, given that I don't have kids), I really think its a lot of moral panic about the razors and pins. Not to say its not worth being careful of...especially if the candy/goody is homemade, but if it's a Reese's that was packaged in Smith Falls, well then.
On that note, the chocolate factory closes on December 23, so anyone who wants to make a trek out there for a tour should do so sooner rather than later.
On that note, the chocolate factory closes on December 23, so anyone who wants to make a trek out there for a tour should do so sooner rather than later.
zymurgist
Wondering if anyone else is concerned about this issue this year.
And what to do about it?
I guess you either let them go out, or not eh?
Is there any meaningful middle ground?
cheers,
-Alan