Kinder Eggs Are Finally Legal In The US!
You may be asking, “What’s a Kinder Egg?” If so, you probably don’t have kids. Kinder eggs are a delightfully simple treat my kids have loved since we started traveling overseas when they were very young. A chocolate egg that contains a small mystery toy, they make my kids squeal with delight when they see the familiar box.
Due to some archaic legislation, Kinder Surprise eggs haven’t been legally allowed in the United States since they’re inception 40+ years ago. But, there’s news that another Kinder product, the Kinder Joy, will start being sold in the US in 2018.
The surprising part to me is that the Kinder Joy has apparently met US standards for quite some time, that this isn’t the result of a recent change in regulations. I can’t imagine why parent company Ferrero wouldn’t have wanted to try to pierce the US market sooner.
If you’re not an expert on Kinder eggs, the Joy is a bit different from the surprise. One half of the plastic “egg” is filled with creme and a couple of crispy treats. The other half contains the toy. Since the toy and the candy aren’t intermingled, the US government doesn’t have an issue with it.
Our daughter actually prefers these. Our son really has no preference, as long as he’s getting surprise eggs! That’s why my wife forwarded this article as soon as she saw it. And, why I wrote this post a few years ago.
As a side note, this Forbes article helped enlighten me about the origination of the Kinder egg. Gotta love the Italians:
The Kinder Egg was conceptualized as a way to play on the Italian tradition of giving children large chocolate eggs that often had a toy inside of them to celebrate Easter. That family tradition was replicated in the Kinder Surprise, which became a popular food-toy outside of the holiday season.
The Final Two Pennies
If you’re unfamiliar with Kinder eggs, you’re probably shaking your head. It’s hard to explain why my kids love these little treats so much. But, they’re not the only ones. Plenty of my aviation geek friends have kids that feel the same way. I’d be willing to bet some of the adults love them, too!
When my aviation geek friends came to visit last year for a party at my house, they brought a big pack of Kinder eggs for both kids. The kids were delighted! Now, it looks like they won’t need to smuggle them into the country much longer….
The post Kinder Eggs Are Finally Legal In The US! was published first on Pizza in Motion
Not just kids, my wife loves collecting the toys. I have a set with 4 or 5 Airbus airplane mini toys. These versions sound like the candy will be tastier than the candy surrounding the classic style (which isn’t all that good IMHO).
Eric, my kids don’t love the chocolate eggs, either. But, they manage to eat them. 🙂
We have the Airbus toys as well. Sadly, those are Kinder Surprise, which means you’ll still need to leave the US to track those down. The creme isn’t that bad, though a bit sweet for my taste.
So… after this news came out, I noticed that our local Asian supermarket has the Kinder Joy chocolate eggs by the pallet. I’m wondering whether they imported them the same way they imported the green tea Kit Kats.
Ptahcha, I saw a store in NYC had the Joy and I was surprised. I really feel like some legislation changed recently that freed up these random shipments.
I used to live in Lincoln, Nebraska a year ago. Some of the asian supermarket get some stuff that is not supposed to be sold in US. Some of them even already past expiry date. Be careful.
Cipta, that’s funny. Interesting they would end up with that stuff in a random place like Lincoln.
I see some of items ( food mostly) in the local asian and mideastern markets that is not supposed to be imported, it still gets here.
If you or your family go to Japan (or any Asian country), there’s a toy named Gashapon. An egg like kinder which contain toys/action figure. It comes from a dispensing machine. The toys are better built than kinder. In Japan, its common even for adult to become collectors. You’ve been warned.
Cipta, the toys would have to be built better than Kinder! Thanks for the heads up. I need to find someone to bring me one back!
choking hazard ?
Mike, when we originally researched why Kinder Eggs were barred in the US, we found articles that cited the size of the capsule the toys come in, saying it was too small/smooth by FDA standards. The capsule was indicated as a choking hazard. Not sure if that’s true or not, since I didn’t research it with the FDA regs.
It is my understanding that the law did not change, the Kinder eggs changed to be less of a hazard.
Decades ago i followed a passenger throgh security at ZRH. They asked him to open his bags and he stated he had diplomatic security. They explained that safety security checks were still mandatory. He asked them to be discreet, no photographs and even stared at me. He then opened his roll on which was totally filled wwith Kinder Eggs. It made it easier for me to follow with my roll on with 20 triple packs of Kinder eggs.
Kinder surprise eggs aren’t the same as kinder joy eggs. Kinder surprise eggs are still illegal because the toy is inside the chocolate eggshell and that’s what’s makes it illegal. Kinder joy egg separates in two halves of an egg and what part is sealed with chocolate and the other is sealed with toy – less of a choking hazard I guess.
Anyway, just saying kinder surprise eggs are still illegal.
A choking hazard would be a concern in any country, which is why the toy in a Kinder surprise egg is inside of a larger container within the egg. My understanding of what makes that illegal in the US is having an inedible item inside of an edible product. It could be the size of a baseball and still be illegal. Though I’m not sure how King Cakes with a plastic baby inside can be sold. Perhaps it is just an import restriction. Or I don’t have all the details of the law straight.
SR Larry, I agree with your logic. I had read a few years ago that the size of the container inside the egg didn’t meet US restrictions. You bring up a really good point on King Cakes. Never thought of that.
lots of them on amazon already