Cole Harbour Halloween treat found with 2.5-cm pin inside

A Nova Scotia mother is warning other parents to be vigilant after her 14-year-old daughter found a pin in a chocolate bar she got trick-or-treating in Cole Harbour on Halloween.

Nancy Hayes, who lives in Eastern Passage, said her daughter went trick-or-treating with friends in the Astral Drive and Stratford Drive area of Cole Harbour.

On Sunday, as she was eating some of her Halloween treats, she broke a chocolate bar in half and saw a pin sticking out.

Hayes said her daughter breaks all of her candy in half before eating it.

"If she would have put it in her mouth in one piece, I don't want to imagine what could happen because it was a real pin. It's long enough to stick in your throat or injure something," she said Monday.

"I don't want to think about what could happen. That would be really, really, really bad."

Mondelez Canada, the parent company of Cadbury, says it's aware of the alleged candy tampering in Halifax but has not been contacted by authorities.

Company officials say they have a number of safety and security checks along our manufacturing lines, including metal detectors before bars are wrapped and after they are boxed.

Cole Harbour RCMP have launched an investigation. The pin is approximately 2.5-centimetres long.

Hayes said her daughter was shocked by what she found.

"She was scared, you hear all those stories but you can't imagine that it's real until it's happening," she said.

"I don't understand how anyone could do that, especially to kids. If you don't like kids, if you don't like Halloween, just don't open your door. But don't put a pin in chocolate to injure them. It's ridiculous."

Hayes wants to warn other parents to thoroughly check their children's candy.

'Who would do something like that?'

Cpl. J.D. Spence said breaking candy before eating it is a good safety precaution. 

"It's a Wunderbar, one of the smaller-type Halloween chocolate bars that are given out. So she found one and then reported it to the police," he said.

"It's a good habit to have, a good safety habit. We haven't had this kind of report in — I don't remember the last time we had one like this, so certainly it is something that's unexpected. You're basically taking food from strangers, right? So it's not a bad practice to [check your candy]."

Police say there have been no other reports of treats having been tampered with. However, the news has parents in the area shocked and concerned.

"I was sort of shocked that someone would do something like that — unless it came from the factory — but then again, who would do something like that knowing kids are going to be eating it?" said Martin Deveau.

"Some people have got sick minds out there."

John Naddour said he doesn't expect store-bought candy to pose a risk and called finding a pin in a child's Halloween candy "scary."

Police are asking parents and children to be cautious with their Halloween candy and report any signs of tampering to police.