Are people really being fined thousands of dollars for smuggling a sweet treat across the US border? Demetria goes deep (maybe a little too deep) on an investigation into why American stores can’t sell one of Europe’s favorite chocolates.
Content note: Deaths of children by asphyxiation and poisoning will be mentioned in this story but are not discussed in detail. Discussion of product testing of toys using machines that can simulate asphyxiation will be detailed.
Featured image: A Kinder Surprise egg (Image source)
Americans demonstrate some very wrong ways to eat Kinder Surprise.
A demonstration from the CPSC of how toys are determined to be choking hazards for children under the age of 3.
Metal figurines were sometimes Kinder Surprise toys in the 90s, although I’m not sure if you can still find them today. The ebay listing I found this on describes these as “vintage,” which is making me feel ancient. (Image source)
A Ukrainian activist makes an “egg opening video” with a patriotic toy inside. This is not a toy Fererro would have manufactured, but it’s a cute and clever fake using the original wrapper and chocolate.
A Russian knockoff of Kinder Surprise, with a baffling egg opening technique (it looks like there’s no seam on the egg to crack open?) and an odd-looking toy.
Sources
Fererro company history and products
- Sweet secrets
- Fererro Corporate
- Nutella: How the world went nuts for a hazelnut spread
- Michele Ferrero, Tycoon Who Gave the World Nutella, Dies at 89
- Addio al papà dell’Ovetto Kinder, in tutto il mondo ne sono stati venduti 30 miliardi
- Michele Ferrero: “Il segreto del successo? Pensare diverso dagli altri e non tradire il cliente”
- William Salice, “material executor” of the Kinder Egg, died
- FERRERO GROUP CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2017
- The toys of Kinder Surprise
- After Being Banned, Kinder Eggs Are Coming To America (Slightly misleading title, since this is about the reworked Kinder Joy product, while “Kinder egg” usually means the Kinder Surprise)
Kinder Surprise around the world
- Kinder: Qualitative Brand Image Analysis for a Global Brand
- EUROPE CHOCOLATE MARKET – GROWTH, TRENDS, COVID-19 IMPACT, AND FORECASTS (2022 – 2027)
- Kinder Surprise goes Russian
- Why Russian sanctions against the West could hit sales of Kinder Surprise
- Israeli Students Design The Tiniest Of Tiny Toys
- The Babel Message: A Love Letter to Language
- IT’S A KINDER MAGIC Scientists show off precision of new £1.5million fossil X-ray scanner — by testing it on Kinder Surprise
- Inside the Strange and Slightly Creepy World of ‘Surprise Egg’ Videos
- Ukrainian Patriots Create a Kinder Egg Surprise
- Why people are sharing picture of Kinder Surprise Eggs and Brie after Las Vegas shooting
- Fake Russian KINDER JOY. Fake and Bad. What is it???
- Russian kinder egg (Unsure if this is a product someone actually purchased in Russia or a joke)
- Counterfeit Kinder Surprise
Kinder Surprise toy capsules and drug crimes
- In Apatity, a girl kept drugs in Kinder Surprise
- Man who used Kinder Surprise eggs to conceal heroin jailed for eight months
- Man smuggled drugs into Creamfields in Kinder Surprise eggs
- People Can’t Stop Shoving Kinder Surprises Up Their Butts to Smuggle Drugs
History of the FDA and the 1938 Food, Drug, Cosmetic Act
- Part II: 1938, Food, Drug, Cosmetic Act
- Changes in Science, Law and Regulatory Authorities
- When and why was FDA formed?
- Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing Industry
- When and why was FDA formed?
- 21 U.S. Code § 342 – Adulterated food
Articles about recalls, deaths, attempted legislation and court battles, and threatened fines
- Girl, 3, ‘chokes to death on Kinder Surprise egg toy’
- Mother calls for ban after girl chokes on Kinder egg.
- Alex Fletcher’s warning to parents
- Confectionery (Plastic Toys)
- CPSC and Kreiner Imports Announce the Recall of Kinder Chocolate Eggs Containing Toys
- Giants in Candy Waging Battle Over a Tiny Toy
- What Ever Happened to Nestle Wonder Balls?
- Could Wonderball be making a comeback?
- Seattle men busted at the border with illegal candy (Original KOMO news article that seems to be the source of the $2,500 figure)
- ‘Illegal’ Kinder Eggs get U.S. men border detention
- Fines can be nasty surprise for surprise egg mailers
- U.S. Men Held At Border With Canadian Contraband
- Kinder Surprise egg seized at U.S. border
- 1997 Annual Report of CPSC actions and activities
- Importation Advisory – Kinder Eggs
- Why are Kinder Surprise eggs illegal in the US?
- For those if you who are concerned about sending Kinder Eggs to the US.
Mr Meyer and Ms Spinrad:
A minor correction: in Italian — and Michele Ferrero was Italian — “Michel” is three syllables with the “ch” pronounced close to the “ch” in the English name “Michael,” not like the “ch” in the English female name “Michelle.” For an example, see https://youtu.be/VCEQIC4zHRU