It's called a Kinder Egg (or Kinder Surprise). They are made by the Italian company Ferrero (who also make Nutella). Kinder Eggs are well-known in Europe for their surprise inside the chocolate (a plastic capsule with a toy inside, often requiring assembly), and this is why they are banned in the United States. You see, Kinder Eggs have a toy surprise completely enclosed by chocolate, which is a problem for the United States. You might wonder why?
 |
| Kinder Egg |
In 1938, the US passed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which prohibits "embedding non-nutritive items in confections." Basically, if it isn't food or edible, then it can't go in food. Suckers are an exception to this because the stick is a handle for the candy, so those are allowed. Since the toy is completely enclosed by the chocolate in a Kinder Egg, it is a violation of the 1938 law. Any attempt to bring a Kinder Egg into the US will result in the egg being seized by US Customs and Border Protection. In 2010 alone, over 25,000 eggs were seized from approximately 1,700 incidents.
 |
| Kinder Egg unopened, cut in half, and a toy with the capsule. |
One story that I'd read about includes a Canadian woman who was stopped at a random checkpoint search in Minnesota. Her Kinder Egg was seized. A few days later, she received a 7-page document asking if she still wanted the egg back or if she was willing to surrender her rights to it. She was shocked that there was so much fiasco over a $2 chocolate egg. But the US government is serious about it.
So if you plan on acquiring a Kinder Egg, good luck. There are ways, but I won't say how. I will say that if you can find one, they are really good. Just be aware that you will be enjoying an illegal tasty treat.
I love Kinder Eggs :D Too bad they can't amend the law or slap an age warning on them or SOMETHING to at least allow these in.
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for posting this; this was really informative. I'd always been under the impression that they were banned in the US because nobody wanted to deal with a lawsuit should an irresponsible parent give one to their under-age-3 child.
I love Kinder Eggs too, and think it's a shame they aren't here in the US. When I first heard they were banned, I thought the same thing you did. I guess, as it turns out, they actually pre-date the times when people worried about such things. A former coworker's friend's daughter would get them in Canada and "smuggle" them into the US, and she brought me one. It was amazing. I felt like such a rebel! :)
DeleteI have found some before in a few shops, but since then, they've disappeared ._. I can only imagine why.
DeleteAnd if I'm ever in Canada, I'll be sure to buy at least one :D And eat it there, considering that story about the woman in the article.
But this makes me wonder about fortune cookies (yeah, paper is kind of edible, but blech), and illuminates the "mystery" (to me as a kid it was) about why Disney "Wonder Ball" candies first came out with toys and then switched to fruit-flavored hard candies inside.