Throwback Thursday: Hospitals offered Halloween candy X-rays in 1984

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Parents have long been encouraged to inspect their children’s Halloween candy before letting them eat it, but back in 1984, some Wilmington-area families had another option: taking their treats to a medical facility for an X-ray.

This week’s Throwback Thursday revisits a WWAY report from October 1984, when concerns about potentially tampered Halloween candy prompted several local medical facilities to offer screenings.

At the time, four locations in the Wilmington area were offering to X-ray children’s Halloween candy to check for hidden metal objects, such as needles and razor blades.

One of those facilities was Medico, where staff demonstrated how the process worked.

Parents were instructed to bring their children and candy to the front desk, where the treats would be collected, labeled and taken to the X-ray department.

A physician would then examine the images for any suspicious objects.

“It’s really unfortunate that this type of service is needed,” a Medico representative told WWAY, explaining that the facility wanted to help make Halloween safer for local families.

During the demonstration, an X-ray revealed a straight pin hidden inside a piece of candy and a razor blade inside an apple.

The representative explained that X-rays could detect metallic objects but would not identify every possible form of tampering, including poison.

The entire procedure took just a few minutes, and Medico said it would contact police if any tampered treats were discovered.

This segment is part of a weekly Throwback Thursday series that features stories from WWAY’s historical news archives. That archive can be accessed here.