Well, this is a weird one. People in Canada are finding DayQuil capsules inside sealed boxes of Smarties candy. So far, seven small “Halloween sized” boxes of the candy have been found to contain the cold medicine.
Sgt. Paul McCurbin of Durham Region police said the cases all involve small boxes given out on Halloween. He said there was no evidence of tampering, “except that cold medication was found inside.”
In further weirdness, it seems that in Canada Smarties are made of chocolate and have nothing to do with the Smarties we’re used to — which, of course, look exactly like drugs. For example:
Durham Regional police launched their investigation upon reports from a young girl who found a tablet of medicine among her treats, according to a news release issued Friday.
The girl, Dhymone Williams, told CBC News she discovered the orange pill inside a small, sealed box of Smarties she received on Halloween night.
“I knew it wasn’t a Smartie because I know that Smarties are round and they have chocolate in it, and that one I could see right through it,” she said.
You do learn something every day, don’t you?
Cold medication discovered in Halloween candy [CBC]
More cold medication found in Smarties [Star]
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Whats wrong with that? Its not like it NyQuil. Your not going to get drowsy.
@LiquidGravity: I get drowsy from DayQuil.
@LiquidGravity: The DayQuil is a lie.
I bought (and took) DayQuil a while ago and it made me drowsy as heck.
They may have changed the formulation since then, because when I look at their website I don’t see any active ingredients which would normally cause drowsiness.
On the other hand, your comment “Whats (sic) wrong with that?” is kind of disturbing to me.
@ribex: The your not going to get drowsy part really disturbed me. Grammatically.
@LiquidGravity: Actually, it’s really bad. Dextromethorpan is the main ingredient in both Dayquil and Nyquil. Death from overdose from DXM is a distinct possibility for a small child.
@wezelboy:
I have to call bull on this one. The kid would suffer multiple organ failure from acetaminophen (325mg/pill) long before the DXM (10mg/pill, 10-30 doses are not uncommon in recreational “robo tripping”) would cause its breathing to slow. But really, what good would a box of just pills be? The taste of the medicines would make most kids spit the stuff out unless a proper ratio of pills to chocolates was used.
@TheStonepedo:
Your attention to these details was far more disturbing than anything else that has been said thus far.
@trujunglist: really? maybe he/she is a nurse/doctor/PA etc. Thats what I thought.
I find it most disturbing that someone at the factory possibly poured meds into the smarty machine. What if they hadnt used the large, clear, dayquil and had used something a lot smaller and easily eaten? like viagra. or E.
Now THAT would be disturbing.
There’s a non-chocolate smartie?
@nagumi: yeah- they are a hard candy here. little sugary discs wrapped in cellophane. Absolutely unrelated to the chocolatey goodness of Canadian smarties
@LindsayC: doctoral hilarity ensues: Or English Smarties.
@nagumi: There is a chocolate smarite?
@tande04: Yep- sort of like their equivalent to M&M’s but with a different flavor because their chocolate recipe is different.
@LindsayC: doctoral hilarity ensues: if it’s the nestles’ chocolate they use in the crunch bar then it’s pretty damn good choclate IMO.
@LindsayC: doctoral hilarity ensues: Also the candy shell is flavored according to their color, unlike M&M’s, where the shells are different colors but all taste the same.
@karmaghost: The orange ones are the best!
@karmaghost: Yes they did. It is more environmentally friendly. Lousy green bastards!
@trujunglist: They do taste slightly different They are quite good if you want a sugar high and make a nifty photographic prop:
@karmaghost: The Canadian ones are not flavoured according to colour. They all just taste like delicious candy-coated chocolate.
When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last?…
The sugary pellet things are called Rockets in Canada. I like them, and they fizz when you drop them in soda pop!
@nagumi: American “Smarties” are similar to the Canadian candy “Rockets”.
@nagumi: This should help
Top: American “Smarties” – these are absolute rubbish since they are just basically sugar pills with food colouring. Ironically, they are made in Canada.
Middle: Canadian Smarties Рthese are properly made by Nestl̩ and are the proper candy coated milk chocolate. Sadly they are not in a proper tube.
Bottom: British Smarties – these are properly made by Nestlé and are the proper candy coated milk chocolate. They are in a hex tube which is a bit more environmentally responsible than the old tubes with the plastic tops, but they aren’t as good for reclosing.
@Triborough:
American smarties are not rubbish and they are not just sugar pills. They have flavoring, although it is probably not that noticeable when you stick all of them in your mouth at once after eating a ton of other sugary candies. I find them to be quite tasty when I steal them from kids on Halloween.
@Triborough: What? They got rid of the circular tube with the plastic top? NOOOOOOOO!!
Oh god, not the Smarties! I get those in care packages from relatives in Ireland! Next it will be the Mars bars! WHERE IS THE JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD?!
@Eldritch: Our local Meijer stores just started carrying little teeny tubes of Smarties. They also have Fruit Pastilles. All they need to carry are Roses and Cadbury Milk Trays, and I’d be a happy camper!
@Eldritch: Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just have them sent from Canada? They’re the same.
I haven’t had Smarties in a very long time (I’m allergic to chocolate), but last time I had them they were in rectangular cardboard boxes, only the minis were in tubes. Has this changed?
See, I was thinking the Day Quil pills were actually coated in chocolate. Now THAT would be…weird.
@summerbee: and delicious.
@summerbee: …and, considering how much my wife hates medicine, but loves chocolate, just might be something worth pursuing. Q: How could you coat a DayQuil with real chocolate without melting the outer shell?
@PencilSharp: Its just like what I do to my dogs with their pills although I use peanut butter instead of poisonous chocolate.
@PencilSharp: probably the same way they make deep fried ice cream, which is also a mystery to me.
Smarties in the US are a small sugary candy that comes in various colors, think of them as smaller, non-tangy SweetTarts. They come wrapped in a clear wrapper that is twist-wrapped at each end, but each individual candy is similar in size and shape to tablet drugs.
Aren’t smarties the little chalky circular candies that come in a long clear plastic wrap?
[www.smarties.com]
@cjones27: Only here in the US, I guess. I never knew there was another type. It’s probably a completely different candy by a completely different manufacturer than the one we’re used to.
@dorianh49: They were British Smarties to start out with and they’re sort of like M&M’s with higher quality chocolate inside.
@Oranges w/ Cheese: This is true. M&M’s are also made with darker chocolate, while Canadian & British Smarties are made with milk chocolate.
@cjones27: Canadian Smarties are much, muuuch better. And made by Nestle, I believe.
Every time I go to Canada I bring some back. Tasty.
@zigziggityzoo: Me too! I first came across them at a duty-free shop in Canada over 10 years ago.
They beat the pants off of American Smarties.
@cjones27: Around here, those chalky abominations are called “rockets” or something similar. Quite frankly, I’d rather have my Nestle Smarties.
Also, where can I get some of these? I’ve got both a chocolate craving and a nasty cold.
@zigziggityzoo: Too right, brother. My best friend visits Canada often and occasionally brings these back. I love ‘em.
They are kinda like oversized M&Ms, but have (in my opinion) a creamier tastes. I know that Mars made “Mega M&M’s” in the USA back in 2005, but I don’t think that they caught on. Not sure if they tasted the same as Canadian Smarties.
I can’t believe there are two COMPLETELY different candies called “Smarties”. How has there NOT been a lawsuit over this?
@NYYSI: There are two Hershey’s companies, too–one makes ice cream, one makes chocolate and candy. I always laugh when I see Hershey’s ice cream, they are apparently required to put a little tagline saying “not affiliated with Milton Hershey” (or something similar) on their products.
@sockrockinbeats:
Yes, I am WELL aware of Hershey’s ice cream. Great stuff. And yes, they are required to have that tag line. Funny.
@sockrockinbeats:
I’m still confused with how they get away with using a really similar font to write HERSHEY!
@NYYSI: Because your “Smarties” are called “Rockets” up here.
@Jim (The Canuck One): That usually doesn’t make a difference. Use of a name, for whatever the reason, is usually enough.
I think there was a lawsuit. My husband, who is Canadian, may have mentioned this, but I tuned out when he started saying they were better. Comparing apples and oranges…
Thats weird… out US Smarties are made in Canada! How come our neighbors to the north done get to enjoy them?
@jaydez: We do, they’re just sold as Rockets in Canada.
Just FYI, for those wondering, Canadians *do* get your American “Smarties”, although here they are called “Rockets” (a better name for them, IMHO!). I believe both the American and Canadian Rockets are manufactured in Ontario, CA (You guess which one! HA!).
@shepd: I’m pretty sure the abbreviation for Canada is CN.
@zigziggityzoo: I’m more than pretty sure you’re wrong.
At the very least, the internet TLD is .ca for Canada. .cn is China. [en.wikipedia.org]
@ribex: um, postal abbreviation is different from teh internets … CA means California and CN means Canada when writing in regular ol’ English and when indicating a country, not a URL.
Love, a Californian
@cellardoor (quickly swingin’ shut on Bush’s term):
Sorry to say, but you’re wrong.
Proof from the Postal Company’s mouth:
[www.canadapost.ca]
Extreme love, a Canadian, eh!
Sorry for the late reply.
@shepd: Ontario, CA = Ontario, California
@shepd: Made in Newmarket Ontario, Canada Just off of William smith Parkway (or something). i live 5 minutes from the place and one of my friends does tech support we call it the rocket factory…
Any body else remember the big Diet Pepsi Syringe hoax in the US. that I think happend in the early 90′s or very late 80′s?
I remember that was such a huge scare and everyone blamed pepsi as there were literally hundreds of reported cases, then the first guy came forward and admitted it was a hoax and low and behold, it turned out everyone else was a copy cat.
Anyways these stories always remind me of that one.
@Hooray4Zoidberg: It wasn’t a hoax. It turned out that a diabetic was putting his used syringes inside of opened & emptied pop cans & someone else picked up the can & saw the syringe & freaked out.
That started the entire flap. which ended when Pepsi showed a video of how the cans were washed & filled. The cans were hit with a high pressure stream of water while upside down & then flipped over instantly & filled & sealed.
No way for tampering in the plant.
I hope we can a future update about this story. Its off and quite interesting.
@parad0x360: I do too. Because it will mean that consumerist is still around.
The drugging of Canada is beginning!! And people thought the US was going to be the country of ’1984′.
If the story is true, my guess is Disgruntled Employee.
1. Shoplift several boxes (or get help from friend inside a drug store).
2. Drop the pills into the stock heading to the packager.
3. ????
4. Profit.
@Murph1908: I don’t think they are really profiting, unless it’s off vengeance.
@kairi2:
Thus the ????
@Murph1908:
I don’t see how underwear helps in this situation.
@pmathews:
Kairi, pmathews got it.
@Murph1908: It doesn’t have to be a disgruntled employee, just a sloppy one that accidentally dropped the drugs into the candy.
Several years ago I received a recall letter from Costco. The letter stated that an employee at the plant where Steakhouse Chili was made lost a pocket calculator into the meat grinder & a batch was recalled.
I never saw any pieces of the calculator as I had eaten five of the six cans already. Costco gave me a full refund for all six cans even though I only had the one to return.
@Greasy Thumb Guzik:
Yes but did your math Improve
@Greasy Thumb Guzik:
The number of cases made me lean towards deliberate contamination of the product line.
Plus, they had to have been dropped in after any kind of processing. If they were dropped in before, they would have been melted, cooked, or candy coated.
Since they were dropped in after processing and before packaging, they must have been taken out of their own packaging. If the emp just dropped his box in, they’d be finding the box instead of the individual candies. If there was a process after the drop point that had the capability of tearing the medicine from the packaging, the candy and the medicine would also be torn up.
Just my brain wanting to work through the puzzle. Surely many of my assumptions could be disproved.
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: I wonder what it must feel like to watch your boss doing some calculations at the meat grinder and then drip his calculator in it. It would be really hard not to laugh, or say “Oops!” really loud.
When you eat your smarties, do you eat the drugged ones last?
@Aeroracere: LOL-eh-pops!
@Aeroracere: Yeah, it’s not advisable to take the drugged ones on an empty stomach.
@Aeroracere: It depends on what color the drugs are, since I eat my candies in order of what color they are.
I grew up in this region. As creepy as this is, hopefully it is an isolated case, and further proof that you shouldn’t let your kids trick-or-treat in that neighbourhood that’s near the nuke plant…
Mmm Canadian Smarties… way better than M&Ms. Though, I do also like American Smarties.
@KernelM: I’ve never understood how anybody can like Smarties better than M&Ms…I’d rather eat American Smarties (which are a pretty lame candy) than Canadian Smarties. *shrug*
Crazy Canadians and their flappy heads!
Sounds like a bonus to me, DayQuill costs more than candy so you’re getting more for your money….although if its holloween candy its free anyway.
Perhaps the manufacturer was worried that all those little tykes would get colds from being out running around on a cold night, so they were just providing some free cold medicine.
Like Hooray4Zoidberg, my gut response to this is that it is another hoax. Almost every tainted/contaminated candy story you hear or heard turns out to be a hoax.
Blame Canada…Blame Canada!
@RedwoodFlyer: It seems that everything’s gone wrong since Canada came along!
This is just another of the benefits of socialized medicine. Free candy with your medications.
@skippywasserman: Canada doesn’t have “socialized medicine.” [www.ourfuture.org]
@domesticdork: Canadians have access to free universal health care. The system is based on a socialist model, founded by a proudly socialist politician (Tommy Douglas.) Call a spade a spade.
I wonder if Nestle is “taking it seriously”…
Pardon my ignorance. I didn’t know Canadians celebrated Halloween. I thought it was strictly a US holiday.
@JuantheGardener: They celebrate Thanksgiving too…although in early October.
the drug can be harmful to small kids!
(yeah! a Canadian story!)
I don’t know about the rest of you, but we used to refer to the America Smartie and “Snorties”. They were often ground up and snorted by school kids. I never really understood why…
American “Smarties” doesn’t have chocolate? Good grief. We Canucks also have Tropicana made purely from real Florida oranges, with no additives – not like the American version, made from concentrate and “mysterious” preservatives.
You’re being short-changed, people! Write to congress!
I worked for Jolly Rancher before the moved to CA as well. I can tell you that a scenario where a person who was sick and trying to get their drugs down could have easily done that at the bagging station or wrapping station. I recall one person dropping batteries in a batch. At least we could catch that in a metal detector. These, I don’t know how you could catch it.
I’m shocked Americans don’t have chocolate Nestle Smarties. What is this injustice? We Canadians must let you have these incredible chocolatey treats.
Hey guys, in Canada “Smarties” are chocolate candy coated candies that are kinda like m & m’s. the Smarties in the USA is called “rockets” down..err UP here. Why rockets? who knows
Canadians DO have American Smarties here, they’re exactly the same candy but they are called “Rockets”. I looove Rockets
And Nestle Smarties are the best the best the best 
For those of you who wonder what the difference is between Smarties and M&M’s, here is an interesting comparison. [www.typetive.com]
I miss Canadian junk food
Smarties, Aero Bars, Jersey Milk, Ketchup Old Dutch chips (or any Canadian chips; the US is about 20 years behind on the invention of “flavor”); French-fries you have to eat with a fork smothered in ketchup and vinegar, or poutine.
This American loves her Canadian Smarties as well as her English Smarties. I can’t get them anywhere near me, if I want them, I have to have friends bring them when they travel, or order them from Amazon. Smarties kick M&Ms ass.