--- description: Authorities think someone may have tampered with the candy title: Bad Skittles Batch Sends Candy Lovers to Hospital image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa26db0fc2d4efc/6986844f35ba6f4fc8c00d5e/136143233.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Say It Isn't So! Candy Lovers Hospitalized After Eating Tainted Skittles  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Mar 7, 2014 12:17 AM CUT  SEATTLE - DECEMBER 24: A closeup of a bowl of Skittles which are kept on the sidelines for running back Marshawn Lynch #24 of the Seattle Seahawks during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field on December 24, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) \*\*\* Local Caption \*\*\* Skittles Candy SEATTLE - DECEMBER 24: A closeup of a bowl of Skittles which are kept on the sidelines for running back Marshawn Lynch #24 of the Seattle Seahawks during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field on December 24, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) \*\*\* Local Caption \*\*\* Skittles CandyOtto Greule Jr—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Mar 7, 2014 12:17 AM CUT A pair who [ate a bag of contaminated Skittles](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tainted-skittles-send-pair-hospital-n46201 "undefined") wound up at the hospital with burning throats, cramping and diarrhea on Tuesday. The Indiana State Department of Health said the package contained some sort of chemical substance. They’re now analyzing the bag at the lab to determine the chemical, authorities told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating whether someone tampered with the package. Authorities are warning those who have a bag of Skittles with the lot numbers 08JUL14 023 or 01DEC14 023 not to eat the fruity candies and to contact the Indiana State police. \[[_AP_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tainted-skittles-send-pair-hospital-n46201 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/15033/skittles-contamination-hospital/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/15033/skittles-contamination-hospital/"},"headline":"Say It Isn't So! Candy Lovers Hospitalized After Eating Tainted Skittles","datePublished":"2014-03-07T00:17:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:38:11.675Z","description":"Authorities think someone may have tampered with the candy","url":"https://time.com/15033/skittles-contamination-hospital/","keywords":["Food","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa26db0fc2d4efc/6986844f35ba6f4fc8c00d5e/136143233.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aa26db0fc2d4efc/6986844f35ba6f4fc8c00d5e/136143233.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Skittles","caption":"Skittles","creditText":"Otto Greule Jr—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/15033/skittles-contamination-hospital/","name":"Say It Isn't So! Candy Lovers Hospitalized After Eating Tainted Skittles"}}]}] ```