The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act outlawed, "non-nutritive items" inside confections, preventing products like Ferrero’s Kinder Surprise from sale in the US.
Unique capsule and larger toys
Candy Treasure overcame the ban by producing larger toys in a special capsule with a plastic ridge and bulls eye button and that releases the toy.
It says it worked with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to produce what it claims is the first toy-filled chocolate egg safe for children of all ages and the only one safe for sale in the US.
The CPSC requires all toys to be safe for children of “all ages”.
Ferrero’s Kinder Surprise is still banned in the country as it is only safe for children over three years old.
Toys and testing
Many surprise eggs use snap-together plastic toys, but these are considered too small to be safe for all ages.
Candy Treasure uses milk chocolate, rather than compound, and has between 12 and 16 surprises in every collection edition. There are figurines such as Spiderman, puzzles and stickers to collect.
The company conducted tests such as bite testing, torsion testing, tension testing, lead testing and phthalate testing to assess the safety of the product.
The product will be sold online and in Target, SuperValu stores.
CORRECTION -This article previously stated that Candy Treasure was a Lebanese company. This was inaccurate. The company is based in Lebanon, New Jersey, US.