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. Stick around! Just tap or click for more great
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