Rolling Halloween Candies Recalled After Choking Death Incident

A candy manufacturing company has issued recalls for hundreds of thousands of units of their product due to potential choking hazards.

The move became necessary after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] received a tragic report of a seven-year-old girl in New York who choked and sadly lost her life when a rolling candy ball became dislodged and got stuck in her throat. 

Halloween will hit a little differently this year following a recall of a candy product due to the aforementioned tragic incident. Cocco Candy is recalling nearly 146,000 units of candy that have a rolling ball attached to a holder. 

Prompting this recall, the CPSC expressed in a statement, "Consumers should stop using the recalled rolling candy immediately, take it away from children, and contact KGR Distribution Corp. for a refund." 

The rolling candy that has been recalled comes in various flavors, such as Sour Strawberry, Sour Tutti Frutti, and Sour Cola. These candies were manufactured in Turkey and sold in U.S. stores as well as online at kgrcandies.com. 

The timeframe for these sales was from May 2022 to March 2023. To encourage a seamless process, CPSC provided contact information for consumers affected by these candy recalls.

Folks can contact KGR toll-free at (888) 802-8823 during their operating hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. Alternatively, consumers can email the company at Recall@kgrdistribution.com for a refund. Information regarding the recall can also be found in the "recall information" section on the kgrcandies.com website.

In addition to the Cocco Candy recall, the CPSC also announced the recall of Slime Licker Sour Rolling Liquid Candy. This candy, manufactured by Candy Dynamics, is said to pose a choking hazard due to its rolling ball that could become detached. 

CSPC stated that consumers affected by the Slime Licker Sour Rolling Liquid Candy recall can contact the company toll-free at 877-546-0483 during their operating hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

Additionally, consumers can visit the recall information page at candydynamicsrecall.expertinquiry.com or access the information on candydynamics.com by clicking on the "Recall Information" section. 

These candies were available for purchase at various retail outlets, including Walmart, Amazon, Five Below, and other online platforms, from June 2015 to July 2023. They were typically priced between $2 and $4 and around 70 million units of the candies are affected by the recall. 

Just last month, another company had to recall one of its cheese products following a manufacturing error that left a "thin strip of the individual film" on the slice even after removal.

On Tuesday, September 19, Kraft Heinz issued a statement acknowledging that certain batches of their Kraft Singles American Cheese products have had adverse effects on consumers and would be subject to a recall. 

The press release stated, "Kraft Heinz is initiating a voluntary recall of approximately 83,800 cases of individually-wrapped Kraft Singles American processed cheese slices that were shipped to a limited number of customers."

According to The Blast, there were "several" consumer complaints about discovering a piece of plastic in their meal. Six of these affected consumers specifically mentioned choking or gagging in connection with this issue. Fortunately, no severe health problems or injuries have been reported.

Kraft clarified that not all of their products were affected. The impacted products include the 16 oz. Kraft Singles American Pasteurized Prepared Cheese with a manufacturing code containing an S and 72, as well as the 3 lb. multipacks of Kraft Singles American Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product with a carton UPC of 0 2100060491-3 and best when used by dates of January 9, 2024, and January 16, 2024 respectively.

The company attributed the presence of plastic remnants in the wrapping to "a temporary issue that occurred on one of our wrapping machines."

Regardless, Kraft has reassured its customers of its commitment to maintaining the highest safety and quality standards while apologizing for the inconvenience. 

Consumers who want to return their defective cheese can do so by returning them to the store or contacting Kraft at 1-800-280-8252,  Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Reimbursement will be provided.