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Why Kinder Surprise is banned in America
Across Europe it is a childhood treat. In the United States, it is contraband: people have been threatened with fines for carrying one across the border.
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Kinder Surprise is a chocolate egg with a plastic capsule inside, holding a small toy. It is made by Ferrero and sold across Europe and much of the world. But not in the United States.
The 1938 law
The reason is an American law from 1938, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It bans confectionery that contains a non nutritive object, meaning something that is not food, unless that object has a functional value. In effect, it bans the sale of any sweet with a toy or trinket embedded in it.
A Kinder Surprise, with its toy sealed inside the chocolate, falls foul of the rule. American officials also took the view that the egg broke rules on small parts, because of the risk that a young child could choke on the toy.
The Border stories
The ban has produced some remarkable stories. In January 2011, US Customs and Border Protection threatened a resident of Manitoba, Canada, with a fine of 300 Canadian dollars for carrying a single Kinder egg across the border into Minnesota. In 2012 the Food and Drug Administration reissued its import alert, warning that the embedded objects may pose a public health risk because a consumer may unknowingly choke on them.
Europe's view
The toys have been controversial in Europe too. In 2000, three families who had lost children who choked on toys from chocolate eggs campaigned to have the products withdrawn from the European Union. That campaign did not succeed; one response at the time was that if every product a child could swallow were banned, there would be very few toys left.
Kinder Joy: the workaround
Ferrero found a way into the American market with a different product. Kinder Joy comes in a plastic egg shaped pack divided into two halves: one holds a creamy treat eaten with a little spoon, the other holds the toy, sealed separately. Because the toy is not embedded in the food, Kinder Joy has been sold in the United States since at least 2017.
Is it safe?
In Britain, Kinder Surprise is sold legally. Toys in food are a reminder that small parts and young children do not mix, and the same goes for hard sweets: see hard sweets and young children.
The Kinder brand faced a very different safety scare in 2022: see the Kinder salmonella recall.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
Why is Kinder Surprise illegal in the US?
A 1938 American law bans confectionery with a non nutritive object embedded in it, unless the object has a function. The toy inside a Kinder Surprise counts, so the eggs cannot be imported or sold.
Can you buy Kinder Joy in America?
Yes. Kinder Joy has been sold in the United States since at least 2017. Its toy is sealed in a separate half of the plastic egg, not inside the chocolate.
Is Kinder Surprise banned in the UK?
No. Kinder Surprise is sold in the UK and across Europe.
Sources
- Kinder Surprise, Wikipedia
- Kinder (brand), Wikipedia
Keep reading
- Sweet scandals and controversiesThe Kinder salmonella recallIn spring 2022, salmonella traced to a Kinder factory in Belgium made hundreds ill, mostly young children. Ferrero recalled Kinder products in many countries.
- The people behind the sweetsMichele Ferrero, Nutella and Ferrero RocherPietro Ferrero made a cheap hazelnut paste in wartime Italy. His son Michele turned it into Nutella in 1964, then created Kinder Surprise and Ferrero Rocher.
- Stories, heists and recordsSweets that were bannedKinder Surprise in the US, chewing gum in Singapore, jelly mini cups in Europe and the dye Red No. 3 in America: sweets that were banned, and why.
- Diet, allergens and labelsHard sweets and young childrenThe NHS says not to give young children hard foods such as boiled sweets or whole nuts, because of choking. What to watch for, and what to do if a child chokes.
- Sweet scandals and controversiesWhy British Cadbury is hard to buy in AmericaHershey has made Cadbury for the US since 1988. In 2015 it stopped an importer bringing in British made Cadbury, and fans of the real thing were furious.
- Sweet scandals and controversiesHow Cadbury was sold to KraftIn 2010 the American food giant Kraft bought Cadbury for £11.5bn after a hostile bid. How a British institution was sold, and why it still stings.