Police investigate reports of metal objects in Halloween sweets

Police are investigating a growing number of reports of needles, nails and screws found in Halloween sweets in Germany and Austria, BR reported. A nine-year-old boy in Gräfelfing, in Munich district, bit into a chewy sweet containing a needle but spat it out and was not injured.

The boy had been collecting sweets with a 15-year-old and an accompanying adult while walking from Gräfelfing towards Planegg, police said.

Other cases have been reported in Bavaria. In Landshut, screws were found in collected chewy sweets and chocolate bars. Children found needles in chocolate bars in western Nuremberg, Obernburg am Main and Neuburg. A nail was found in a Halloween sweet in Vilshofen an der Donau, in Passau district.

In those cases, parents spotted the metal objects before the children ate the sweets. No one was injured, according to police. Similar incidents have also been reported in other German states and Austria. Police have reported one injury so far: a girl in Lower Saxony was hurt by a tampered chocolate bar. It is not yet clear whether the cases are connected or what motivated them.

Police advise checking Halloween sweets for puncture marks before eating them. Anyone who finds a dangerous object should keep the sweet and contact police, without removing the object, so potential evidence is preserved.

Metal objects have also been found in Halloween sweets in Germany in previous years. In 2025, a mother in Middle Franconia found a two-centimetre nail in her daughter’s sweet. Police say the reasons behind the current reports remain unclear.