Leave it up to the FDA to ruin all the fun. My favorite candy is banned

[martygreene]

So, I've been wondering why I can't find conjac cups in any of the asian markets anymore. I ADORE conjac cups, particularly lychee, mango, and taro flavored ones.

So, I googled and found this:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/topics/konjac.html
Quote:

Konjac Candy Recalls The Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about consuming mini-cup gel candies that contain the ingredient "konjac" (also known as conjac, konnyaku, yam flour, or glucomannan). The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff and the Food and Drug Administration consider this type of candy to pose a serious choking risk, particularly to infants, children and the elderly. Local authorities have reported children's deaths from choking in the United States associated with this type of jelly candy. There have also been reports of deaths in other countries. If consumers discover these candies on store shelves, they should contact the local Food and Drug Administration office with detailed information about the candy.

Bugger all. If you follow the link, you'll find that makers have agreed to not sell conjac candies in the US. Now, the thing that gets me, is that conjac candies are just like smaller versions of jell-o cups. In fact, those little jell-o squares that you get in cafeteria salad bars are EXACTLY the same size. I don't see them making jell-o pull off the shelves because someone choked on their candy. I've eaten hundreds on conjac candies, and never even came close to choking. You'd have to give them to a very young child to have that happen, and I remember the packaging clearly stating not to give them to children under 6. Appearantly these are permanently banned in Australia. I can't tell if they are banned here in the US too. Cigarettes and alcohol get warning labels, but candy gets stopped at the ports. WTH?

So, I guess I need to look into the legality of me purchasing it online and having them shipped to me. Buying candy online seems so silly to me.

 

[kaliraksha]

Ohh I know what you mean... I thought these where banned a while ago... I use to have them all the time like a few years back and then I stopped seeing them readily available... my friend and I complained about it for a while.

 

[Juneplum]

nooo. i LOVE these! the lychee ones are my fave

that sucks. wtf? that doesn't make sense. who in their right mind would give that to an infant anyway? this is dumb.

 

[neyugNneiL]

Hmm, I have some lychee ones in my fridge that I bought last week? They are made a little bit bigger than some of the other cups that I used to eat when I was little; maybe they make them bigger so they can still sell.

Good lord, they take away our conjacs but leave the cigarettes and alcohol. If this world was run by women...

 

[lovejam]

At least they aren't banning konnyaku itself. I've been dying to make something with it. Apparently, it's like tofu, except it actually picks up more flavor than tofu, and it doesn't have that yucky tofu taste.

How sad that the gel cups are banned, though. I would have loved to try taro. I love taro.

But, I saw gel cups at my local Asian market last time I went there, so maybe they'll still be selling them. I sure as hell won't tell on them if I find any.

I mean, seriously. It's common sense not to feed that stuff to small children. They even make special toddler snacks now that dissolve in the toddler's mouth within seconds, to eliminate choking risk.

 

[asraicat]

ah c'mon now...first a lawsuit against hot coffee, now this!!!
We ate lots of "non-safe" stuff as kids & we're still kickin' aren't we?
what's next...will we have to all wear bubble suits?

 

[joytheobscure]

awww. I'm sorry - I remember when they were throwing big fits about kids choking on these things- my son loved them (yes bad parent I was giving them to my kid) but dangit Grapes are freakin' choking hazards as are anything, round hard candy is a choking hazard- I haven't seen them in ages in the stores...

 

[niecypiecy]

Kids will choke on anything! Are they going to ban all food so that we eat from a straw now?

 

[Shawna]

The worst choking hazard for a child are rubber balloons. Who knew? At least the jellies dissolve. Balloons don't. I'm gonna have to check for those next time we go for bubble tea.........OMG, I hope they don't outlaw bubble tea as a choking hazard

 

[Cyn]

I loved the lychee ones! I wondered where they went.

 

[mspixieears]

Are these what I think they are?! You get them at Asian grocers and you peel off the lid and pop the jelly thingie into your mouth?

Ack! I love those, was wondering why I haven't seen them around. Used to go through heaps of these whenever I was in the Philippines. Damn damn damn! I only tried fruit-flavoured ones though.

Perhaps there's a political agenda associated with banning this product? I know in Australia the government only made it illegal to bring kava into the country (ground powder from root plant in Fiji that is mixed with water - natural antiseptic, makes mouth go numb!) because they don't reap any profits from it. It's used in Fijian ceremonies though not exactly sure of its significance.

 

[alurabella]

this stinks.

Ooh, someone metioned bubble tea....mmmmm!!!

 

[x20Deepx]

Nooooooooooo!!!

I'm actually horrified! Those are one of my favorite snacks. I was at a friend's house once, and I ate through an entire bucket of mango-flavored ones in a 12-hour period, and now he won't pass up an opportunity to make fun of me for it.

 

[suebabyhappymeal]

I think these were also banned for sale in Australia a few years ago. But I still see the little jellies for sale, they might be a different type.

 

[mjalomo]

You can still buy the jelly cups in Mexico at candy stores, but the flavors are different. They come in mango, coconut, melon, pineapple, strawberry, and grape. They also have a little square of something white & chewy in the middle. My husband and I love them, but eat too many when we buy them.

 

[ishtarchick]

ah... the land of the free....
yes you can still get them in mexico, the ones Mjalomo said, and regular conjac cups too.

 

[V2LUCKY]

These right?

I love those things, I've been craving them recently and been meaning to go into this lil Asian shop and now there's no point they won't be there. I guess I'll have to get them from Mexico.

 

[lara]

You can still buy them in Australia, you just need to know what Asian grocer to go to.

 

[martygreene]

Quote:

Originally Posted by V2LUCKY These right? I love those things, I've been craving them recently and been meaning to go into this lil Asian shop and now there's no point they won't be there. I guess I'll have to get them from Mexico.

yup, those. Man, what I wouldn't give for some of those right now. I've scoured the internet to no avail already.

 

[Parishoon]

They sell those at the Hong Kong market (huge asian super market in houston) & if you hunt around Cost Plus world market, sometimes they have them.
these bring back such happy memories. Now i have to go find some