Are Kinder Surprise Eggs Still Banned In The US?
Italian chocolate brand Ferrero has made kids and adults smile with their line of Kinder Surprise eggs since 1974. While the product is distributed throughout Europe, South America, Africa, and some parts of North America, chocoholics cannot find it in the United States. The U.S. has banned the treat and other countries like Chile have followed suit; the confection is most popular in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Russia.
The candy is a milk chocolate egg with a white chocolate lining, and features a yellow or orange plastic capsule (resembling a yolk) in the center, that holds a small trinket. The bonbon was inspired by the sweet Easter tradition of giving kids plastic eggs with chocolate inside. Despite the Kinder eggs being marketed towards children, the eggs have become collectibles for adults as well. Ferrero sells about 1.2 billion eggs per year around the word and 30 billion products have been purchased since their inception.
Why are Kinder Surprise Eggs illegal in the U.S.?
Kinder Surprise eggs have remained illegal in United States due to safety concerns regarding the miniature plastic prizes inside. The plastic toys present a chocking hazard as children can accidentally eat them. According to the standards set forth in the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the eggs can be classified as an "adulterated food" and are forbidden to be sold. Kinder's parent company, Ferrero (yes, the same company behind the gold foiled Ferrero Rocher chocolares), noted in 2011 that Kinder Surprises aren't available in America because the FDA has regulated that non-nutritive items implanted in food makes them not suitable for sale and distribution.
However, the chocolatier has found a way to swerve around the law in order to produce chocolate for the American market. It created their own iteration of the confection, called the Kinder Joy. The toy is placed in a plastic capsule inside the egg to keep from people accidentally swallowing it. Joys were previously manufactured to sell the chocolate eggs in warmer climates where the regular sweets melted.