Kinder Egg Contraband
Protecting Americans from foreign bonbons.
Lind Bird had no idea she was in possession of illegal goods when she tried to cross the border from Canada to the United States with a $2 chocolate Kinder Surprise egg in her car. But astute U.S. customs officials detected her contraband confectionery at once, seizing it from the appropriately named Bird.
The bonbon, a chocolate-encased plastic capsule with a toy inside, is sold worldwide, but importing one into the U.S. could have triggered a $300 fine. The tasty terrors join Haitian animal-hide drums, African bush meat, and Cuban gold on the federal government's list of prohibited imports, thanks to a decision by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1997 declaring the toys an unacceptable choking hazard. The candy also runs afoul of a Food and Drug Administration rule against "nonnutritive items" in confections. Customs agents have confiscated more than 25,000 Kinder eggs in the last year.
Instead of getting to chow down on a chocolate egg when she arrived at her destination in the United States, Bird was treated to a seven-page letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection seeking official permission to destroy the candy. "I thought it was a joke," she told the CBC. "I had to read it twice. But they are serious." If she wishes to contest the seizure of her snack, Bird must pay $250 for the government to store it until the issue is resolved.
