The Consumers' Foundation (
The yam-flour snacks known as Mini Fruit Jellys or Mini Fruit Cups have been blamed for the death of six children in the US and three in Taiwan who choked to death on the bite-size sweets over the last three years.
"The government should really do something to strictly regulate the gel snacks before more accidents happen," said Tsai Chai-ban (蔡萬本), chairman of the foundation.
Tsai made the remarks after learning that a US federal court in California on Wednesday ordered the destruction of US$500,000 worth of Taiwan-made conjac-gel candy.
The order was the latest move in a 15-month effort to get the candy off US store shelves.
Late last year, the US Food and Drug Administration announced a ban on the import of the gel candies.
Several European nations, as well as Canada and South Korea, have also banned them.
Tsai accused the government of being spineless when it comes to taking a tough stand against manufacturers.
"Three years ago we had held a public hearing urging authorities to require gel-candy makers to change the size of their product," he said.
"But the government didn't impose any strict regulation [to reduce size] and therefore makers have been reluctant to changes."
One health official said yesterday that the government had attempted to tackle the problem by encouraging manufacturers to change the size of the candy and include printed warnings with their products, but few have complied.
"More than 70 percent of conjac jelly distributed in Taiwan is still the small size," said Chen Shu-kong (
Chen said Taichung-based Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods Co (
Chen said the company began selling a larger heart-shaped candy this year but 50 percent of its production is still the small size.
However, a senior Sheng Hsiang Jen official told the Taipei Times that perhaps the consumer eating habits are to blame for the problem.
"Many foods such as sticky rice, dumplings or even hot dogs are hard to swallow and the public could choke on them too if they didn't exercise caution," said Lee Lien-yu (
"Besides, we have a warning on the packaging of our jelly candies stating the sweets are not for children under the age of five or for seniors and they shouldn't be eaten when walking or jumping," Lee said.
Tsai said such warnings are "not enough,"adding that the government should require manufacturers make the candy larger and set a deadline for the change.
"The government should punish candy makers or destroy their products if they don't follow such regulations," Tsai said.
The foundation is considering holding another public hearing soon on the issue.
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