A California company has agreed to a federal settlement ordering destruction of US$500,000 worth of Taiwan-made candy, the latest move in a 15-month effort to get the gel sweets -- that can cause children to choke to death -- off the US market.
The Food and Drug Administration seized tens of thousands of the conjac gel candies from distributor New Choice Food Inc. last spring after the Irwindale, California, company refused to quit selling them.
New Choice contested the seizure, denying that its brands of the once popular Asian-made jelly candies are risky and noting that they bear a warning that the sweets are not for children under age 5.
But under a consent decree filed Wednesday in federal court in California, the FDA said New Choice agreed to government-supervised destruction of the seized candies -- and to recall any additional batches that may already be on store shelves.
The FDA said New Choice posted an US$800,000 bond as assurance that it would comply.
A New Choice spokesman did not immediately return a call Wednesday.
Conjac candies are brightly colored sweets made of thick, fruit-flavored gel in mouth-sized servings that people suck out of small plastic cups.
Highly popular in Asia, the candies became a hit in the US about two years ago, until reports that six US children and about a dozen in other countries had choked to death on the sweets. The gel is so sticky that rescue workers have reported being unable to dislodge it from the throats of choking children.
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