St. Joseph law enforcement gives tips on candy safety for Halloween

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- With trick-or-treaters heading door-to-door this Friday, local law enforcement warns what to look out for when going through Halloween candy.

The tradition of getting candy from strangers on any night other than Halloween would be considered a huge risk.

The risk still presents itself on the spook-tacular night; in 2019, a woman in New Jersey found a bag of what they believed was heroin after trunk-or-treating

A major concern now is fentanyl, which is being designed as bright and colorful to target the American youth.

Local law enforcement has urged Buchanan County residents to check their children's candy bags due to uncertainties.

"The main thing is for parents to really be cautious and inspect all the candy. If there's a package torn open or there's any kind of defect, it's better to just disregard that candy and move on," said Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett.

Puett recommends parents reach out to local law enforcement if they find anything unusual inside their child's candy bag, like spoof candy, also known as prank candy.

"Read the packages because a lot of them are what we would refer to as spoofed. They look very, very similar," said Puett.

The counterfeit candies can look like your average candy, when in reality, your Smarties can actually be fentanyl.