This chocolate treat is loved worldwide - but it’s illegal in the U.S.
American authorities are strictly against a popular children’s chocolate treat that has sold billions of units over the past half century.
Since it first hit the confectionery market in 1974, the Kinder Surprise has established itself as an iconic children’s chocolate treat, selling tens of billions of units worldwide.
However, one country in which you won’t find the popular snack on any store shelves is the United States, where it’s banned.
Half a century of toy joy
A chocolate egg made by the Italian firm Ferrero, the Kinder Surprise comes with a famed USP - the miniature toy inside the egg.
Encased in a yellow plastic capsule, the Kinder Surprise holds a plastic trinket that could be anything: a mini car, a Smurf figurine, a tiny spaceship.
Ferrero employs a dedicated research-and-development team that creates around 300 new Kinder Surprise toys each year.
The toys have given rise to a global community of dedicated collectors. As of 2021, Australian Hoorman Pour boasted the Guinness World Record for the largest known collection, with just over 1,500.
“Inspired by the Italian tradition”
The brainchild of Michele Ferrero, the son of company founder Pietro, the Kinder Surprise harks back to a long-standing Easter-time custom in Italy.
According to the Ferrero website, Michele “was inspired by the Italian Easter tradition of children searching for a chocolate egg with a surprise inside.
“He wanted to take the joy of this concept and translate it into a product that could be enjoyed every day of the year.”
But this joy is strictly off limits in the U.S., whose federal food-safety regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, declares: “The imbedded non-nutritive objects in these confectionery products may pose a public health risk as the consumer may unknowingly choke on the object.”
It is not only illegal to sell the Kinder Surprise in America; U.S. border officials have been known to confiscate the product from individuals attempting to take it into the country for private consumption.
“It’s just a chocolate egg”
In 2011, for example, Canadian media reported that customs agents had seized a single Kinder Surprise from a Winnipeg woman’s vehicle as she crossed the border from Canada into the U.S.
The owner of the offending treat, Lind Bird, told CBC: “It’s just a chocolate egg, and they were making a big deal.
“They said ‘if you were caught with this across the border you would get charged a $300 fine.' It’s ridiculous. It’s so ridiculous.”
Bird revealed that border officials later sent her a seven-page letter requesting she formally authorize the destruction of her confiscated Kinder Surprise.
Bird was also told she would have to pay $250 in storage costs if she wanted the authorities to hold on to her chocolate egg so she could challenge the seizure.
“I thought it was a joke,” she told CBC. “I had to read it twice.”
The Kinder egg that IS allowed Stateside
Although the Kinder Surprise is prohibited in the U.S., the country does allow Ferrero to sell a similar product from its line-up to American customers.
Since 2017, U.S. chocolate lovers have been able to buy the Kinder Joy - an egg-shaped snack which, like the Kinder Surprise, includes a miniature toy.
Unlike the Surprise, however, the Kinder Joy does not allow you to eat your way to the plastic collectible. The Joy is a plastic egg that splits into two compartments: one half holds the toy, while the other half contains a chocolate desert that’s eaten with a spoon.
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