Kinder Surprise

United Kingdom

In 2000, three families who had lost children to choking on toys that had come with chocolate eggs campaigned for the products to be withdrawn from the European Union.[30]

Defenders of the chocolates said that these had been unfortunate fatalities. This was discussed in the House of Commons[31][32][33] and also by the Department of Trade and Industry which said, "The child’s tragic death was caused by the ingestion of a small part of the egg’s contents. Many other products and toys with small parts are available in the market place. If we were to start banning every product that could be swallowed by a child, there would be very few toys left in the market".[34]

United States

A 1938 law, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, prohibits confectionery products that contain a "non-nutritive object", unless the non-nutritive object has functional value.[35] Essentially, the Act bans "the sale of any candy that has embedded in it a toy or trinket".[36]

In 1997, the staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission examined and issued a recall for some Kinder Surprise illegally brought into the US with foreign labels.[37] The staff determined that the toys within the eggs had small parts. The staff presumed that Kinder Surprise, being a chocolate product, was intended for children of all ages, including those under three years of age. On this basis, the staff took the position that Kinder Surprise was in violation of the small parts regulation and should be banned from importation into the US.[37]

Kinder Surprise eggs are legal in Canada and Mexico, but are illegal to import into the US. In January 2011, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) threatened a Manitoba resident with a 300 Canadian dollar fine for carrying one egg across the US border into Minnesota.[38] In June 2012, CBP held two Seattle men for two and a half hours after discovering six Kinder Surprise eggs in their car upon returning to the US from a trip to Vancouver. According to Joseph Cummings of Seattle, Washington, one of the men detained, a border guard quoted the potential fine as "$2,500 per egg".[39]

In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) re-issued their import alert stating "The embedded non-nutritive objects in these confectionery products may pose a public health risk as the consumer may unknowingly choke on the object".[40]

Kinder Surprise bears warnings advising the consumer that the toy is "not suitable for children under three years, due to the presence of small parts", and that "adult supervision is recommended".[41]

As of 2017 Kinder Joy eggs, a similar product, are being sold in the United States. Instead of a toy being encased in a chocolate egg, it is in an egg-shaped plastic package with the toy and chocolate separated. Kinder Surprise eggs are still illegal in the US, but remain popular on the black market.[42][43]

The chocolate content of the Kinder Surprise and Kinder Joy is what differentiates them. Kinder Joy has a spoon to eat a creme inside, while Kinder Surprise is two-layer chocolate—milk chocolate on the outside and white chocolate on the inside.[44]

Chile

In 2016, new food labeling and packaging laws banning the use of toys as promotional incentives for unhealthy foods resulted in Chile banning the Kinder Surprise.[45][46]

Belgium

In 2022, the Belgian food agency reported about 20 cases of salmonella in Belgium due to contaminated Kinder Surprise eggs.[47]

Canada

In 2022, Ferrero Canada Ltd. recalled 23 Kinder brand chocolate products in Canada. The recall included Kinder Surprise 100g, and other products containing them.[48][49] According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the recall was voluntary. No illnesses were associated due to the consumption of the product.[50]