Here are 10 Banned Candies That Can Kill (Part 4). Because no matter how tasty candy might
be, it should never be deadly.
Exploding Gum How many times did you freak out as a kid
because you swallowed a piece of gum and thought you were going to die? Yea, thanks, urban
legends. While chewing and swallowing regular chewing gum will most likely have no deadly
consequences, there was one chewing incident back in 2009 that attracted a lot of attention
and had a fatal outcome. A 25-year-old Ukrainian chemistry student had big dreams of becoming
a scientist and decided to experiment with various chemicals during his Christmas break.
He found that by dipping his favorite stick of gum in citric acid before chewing, it
enhanced the gum's sourness as well as prolonged its taste. However, one night, Vladimir dipped
it in the wrong bowl - a fatal mistake that would cost him his life. Instead of dipping
it in the citric acid, he dipped in an unidentified chemical, possibly an explosive. After only
one chew, the gum exploded in his mouth, killing him instantly. Yikes - the things people do
for science.
Roadkill Gummy Candy With so many different types of gummy candies
available, it can sometimes be hard to stand out from the crowd. Maybe that's why back
in 2005, Kraft thought it would be a good idea to go off-book and come up with some
highly controversial candy. The bag of Roadkill Gummy sweets featured all kinds of colorful
animals like snakes, squirrels, and even chickens that had been, well, road-killed - they even
had tire marks on them, just to add a little realism. While these gummies were supposed
to be a harmless, tasty snack, they struck a sensitive chord with animal activists and
it eventually led to their demise. Apparently, Roadkill Gummy candies were promoting the
idea of injuring animals and was sending the wrong message, "especially from a so-called
wholesome corporation like Kraft," at least, according to numerous campaigns that followed
the release of the candy. Activists were claiming that representing critters run over
by cars as a fun treat would encourage children to be cruel to animals. Kraft ended up stopping
production of the fruit-flavored critters that same year.
Candy Cigarettes This one doesn't need a lot of explanation
as to why they were banned and why they could possibly kill you. Candy Cigarettes were sold
practically everywhere at one point and were modeled after grown-up cigarettes. Real-life
cigarette manufacturers even helped with the production of the candy, using the same exact
branding on the packaging, you know, just to make things even more authentic. They were
made of either chalky sugar, bubblegum, or chocolate and wrapped in paper. The creme
of the crop, though, were the ones with powdered sugar at the tip. You could blow through the
candy stick and make it look like you were blowing smoke. As we've established before,
children are very impressionable and like to copy what adults do - that's how they learn
a lot of useful manners and habits. Unfortunately, it's also how they pick up some less than
desirable habits, and in this case, a very bad one. With almost identical packaging and
branding, candy cigarettes were the perfect way for kids to mirror exactly what their
parents were doing. Studies have even shown that the percentage of smokers who had candy
cigarettes as a child was higher than those who didn't smoke. As medical organizations
around the world became more aware of the dangers of smoking, many countries like Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Brazil, Norway, and Finland decided to ban the candy, while the
U.S. simply changed the label to candy sticks.
Kinder Surprise This candy is the definition of a controversy.
Some will claim to still see Kinder Surprise Eggs in stores, and while it might be accurate,
the truth is, there aren't supposed to be any. Indeed, the fun, tasty treat has been
banned in the United States for quite a while now. It's all because of an old law from the
1930s which prohibits any non-nutritional objects from being placed in any type of food
- i.e., the toy in a Kinder Surprise Egg. The little toy found inside the chocolate
can apparently be confused by some kids as another candy, increasing the risk of choking.
Even if banning the candy might seem a little overboard, incidents have actually happened
in the past, like in 2016, when a 3-year-old in France died after choking on a toy from
the chocolate egg. Yes, the eggs do bear a warning stating that the toys are "not suitable
for children under three years, due to the presence of small parts," but that didn't
stop the treat from getting kicked out of the country. To avoid any confusion, Kinder
did come up with another type of chocolate egg with a toy, Kinder Joy, only packaged
differently. One half of the egg contains the candy, a sweet cream topped with cocoa
wafer bites, and the other half holds the toy. This hasn't slowed down the egg hunt
however, as over 60,000 smuggled eggs were seized by U.S. border officials in 2011 alone.
So, yea, you might see some in stores, but just know, you probably shouldn't.
Tamarind Lollipops We're all for eating candy from around the
world, and Mexican candy makers sure make some sweet treats. However, some of those
candies haven't always been so fault-free. Tamarind Lollipops, for instance, the soft, dark brown
tamarind-fruit candy on a white or orange-striped stick, were banned from the U.S. market back
in 2001 after they were found to contain “excessively high” levels of lead by the California
Department of Health Services. The threat was mostly from the imported tamarind candy
labeled under the Dulmex brand “Bolirindo" and was found to pose a significant health
risk. The investigation began after a 2-year-old child from Orange County was found with very
high levels of lead in his system following a routine blood test. The culprit? The child
had eaten the lollipops in question prior to his visit. There were also two other cases
of lead poisoning associated with Tamarind Lollipops found in Stanislaus County, which
led to the candy being banned - at least until the poisoning problem could be controlled.
Lead poisoning will damage the central nervous system and can cause severe learning and behavioral
disorders. While the candy itself contained about 0.2 parts per million of lead, it wasn't the
only problem. The candy wrappers - something children will often lick or chew - had 21,000
to 22,000 ppm of lead, while the sticks contained about 400 ppm.
Hippy Sippy As a child, we all loved to play pretend.
Pretend family, pretend school, pretend anything, really. But, as a parent, it seemed like Hippy
Sippys were taking the "pretend" game a little too far, and it's pretty easy to see why.
The rather edgy and experimental candy was made in 1968 and imported from Japan by R.J.
Albert & Sons. This candy basically proves that just about anything could be put on the
market back in those days. The confection was meant to replicate the hippy culture,
only in a supposed kid-friendly manner? The plastic toy was filled with multi-colored pellets, meant
to represent uppers and downers. Modeled after a hypodermic needle, kids needed to suck on
the needle in order to get the candy. Still kid-friendly? To make matters even worse,
the toy/candy also came with a button that would say stuff like: "I’ll Try Anything"
and "We Sell Happiness," basically sending the completely wrong message to young, impressionable
children. Obviously, parents weren't so happy about their kids pretending to take illicit
substances, and glamorizing it in the form of a candy was said to be enticing and could
lead to future drug use. Hippy Sippy thankfully only stayed on the shelves for less than a
year, but if you do some digging around online, you might still be able to get your hands
on one - or you could always "just say no!"
LolliPipe Okay, while this candy was technically never
meant to be sold to children, the fact is, it's still candy, and kids love candy, meaning
it was only a matter of time before a little rascal stumbled upon one. LolliPipe is yet
another candy that was accused of glamorizing illicit substances, only this time, the point
was a little more blatant. It was an edible candy that resembled a smoking pipe, you know,
the kind some grown-ups like to use to "smoke their greens." It was released in the late
2000s and was targeted to adult smokers who wanted to add a little bit of sugar to their
routine. The candy pipe used to be sold exclusively online and required a valid ID of 18 years
or older to purchase, but it wasn't long before they ended up in retail stores across the
country. It was from that moment on that things started to get a bit more touchy. Even though
LolliPipes were not intended for children, they did come in a wide range of colors, had
an interesting shape, and were made of candy, so of course, it couldn't keep curious kids
from being intrigued. Parents grew concerned about all the questions their kids began asking
about the strange candy and eventually complained to the company, claiming LolliPipes were promoting
bad habits to young people. After a while, the inappropriate candy was taken off the
shelves and relegated to the "online-only" market.
Lucas Mexican Candy Lucas Mexican Candy offers a very wide variety
of candy, and back when it was first introduced, they were one of the most in-demand products
from Latin America. However, this also came with a fair share of controversy, leading
to their banishment. Lucas Candy was a unique powdered candy blending saltiness, sourness,
and sweetness that was typically poured on fruit to make the flavor pop. It came in a
container that looked like a spice shaker, making it easy to sprinkle the candy wherever
you wanted. But that wasn't necessarily a good thing. You see, Lucas Candy was the perfect
consistency to be a "nose candy," which, believe it or not, is an actual thing. A lot of times,
instead of being poured on fruit, Lucas Candy would be shaken onto the table, arranged into
a line, and then sniffed. Again, not exactly the most kid-friendly candy out there. As
snorting the candy became more and more frequent, worried parents complained to the company.
The company's response? This was "merely the result of using the product wrong." That explanation
might have flown if it wasn't for test results proving that the candy contained twice the
amount of lead allowable by the FDA. You might still be able to find some around today
despite the candy being banned, but just don't forget what it really contains.
Toxic Waste Chew Bar With a name like Toxic Waste, it can't really
be that much of a surprise to learn that this was the opposite of healthy. In fact, it totally
lived up to its name when the Chew Bar was found to be actually toxic. The Toxic Waste
Chew Bar was a candy imported from Pakistan launched in 2007 known for its extreme and
unmatched sourness. It was wrapped in bright yellow caution-like tape - which already
should've given you enough reason to steer clear of it. Heck, even the company's website
had the screech of a blaring warning horn - if that's not alarming enough, then what
is? However, it wasn't until 2011 that the clearly dangerous candy started gaining attention
from the California Department of Public Health. Once they ran some tests, they found that
a majority of the Chew Bars contained a significant amount of lead - almost three times the accepted
level by the FDA! Even though no one had gotten sick from the candy yet, the U.S. distributor
decided to recall the bars before things got out of hand. Since elevated lead content could
potentially be harmful to small children, infants, and pregnant people, the Toxic Waste
Chew Bars were pulled from the shelves and banned for good. Better safe than sorry, right?
Free Candy Aside from Halloween, there aren't that many
occasions where you can just go around asking for free candy from strangers - which, frankly,
is kind of a bummer. In Madrid, however, most people would beg to differ, as giving away
any free candy is now a banned practice. You see, most Spanish towns and cities will hold
a Cabalgata de Reyes, which is a Christmas parade, every year on the 5th of January.
At this most anticipated night of the year for the kids, the Three Kings - also known
as the Three Wise Men - will arrive on floats with a bunch of presents and sweets. While
this might seem like heaven on earth for just about any kid, this practice has also led
to several injuries, as one might imagine with children scrambling around trying to
get as much candy as they can. But, it's an incident that happened in 2013 that put a
stop to the formerly-loved tradition once and for all. The Christmas carriage ran over
a six-year-old boy who was trying to collect the sweets in the streets and ended up killing
him. After the tragic incident, new rules and regulations were put in place to prevent
anything like that from happening again. For instance, the Three Wise Men are only allowed
to gift children candy if the streets are equipped with appropriate security fencing.
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