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Letter: Razors in apples

Published 13 November 1999

From Emily Taylor

Feedback was dismayed at the warnings to parents regarding
children’s trick-or-treat Halloween candy
(30 October).
Sadly, this is not a case of one institution being paranoid.

I grew up in Canada, and even 20 years ago—when I was still young
enough to be trick-or-treating (I am now 27)—we were always told in school
to let our parents check the treats first—for example, examining apples
for signs of razor blade insertion and making sure wrappers had not been
tampered with. A trip to the local hospital for an X-ray was a little beyond the
normal precautions, but not by far.

How much this fear stems from urban legends and how much is based on fact, I
don’t know. But checking apples for razor blades is one of my childhood memories
of Halloween. If this was in a quiet city in Canada, I can only imagine how much
worse it could be in San Diego, 20 years later.

Ah, what a world we live in…

Emily_Taylor@spe.sony.com

Issue no. 2212 published 13 November 1999

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