Photo: Surrey Police share a photo of a Reese peanut butter cup with a metal staple in it on Nov. 1.

Police across Canada have issued alerts after incidents where children’s Halloween treat bags contained dangerous items such as syringes, medication vials, staples and metal fragments. In Ontario and Saskatchewan, authorities report that packaged candy was found to contain what appears to be the opioid analgesic morphine and hypodermic needles.

In the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, the Surrey Police Service responded to a call in Clayton Heights where a metal staple was discovered inside a peanut-butter cup collected by trick-or-treaters. Meanwhile, in Regina the Regina Police Service issued a public advisory after a child’s candy contained a thin metal object resembling a needle and the wrapper had a small hole.

The pattern of these findings has sparked concern among local law enforcement and health officials. The presence of medical-grade items such as syringes or controlled ones like morphine in environments meant for children raises serious risk of injection injury, accidental exposure or ingestion of potent substances. With Halloween-collected treats, damage can occur especially when children share candy informally or unwrap it unsupervised.

Parents and caregivers are being encouraged to inspect each piece of candy carefully before children consume them. Check wrappers for signs of tampering such as punctures, resealing, unexpected holes or unusual objects inside. If something suspicious is found, families are advised to preserve the item, avoid letting children handle it further and contact their local police service to report what they found.

Community policing units stress that while there is no confirmed widespread wave of tampered Halloween treats, each incident is treated as potentially serious and investigators are working to determine whether malicious intent can be established.