More About Gel Candies

Vocal Cord Gel Candy

Gel candies (also known as Fruit Poppers, Jelly Yum, Jelly Mini Cups and Mini Fruity Gels) are the world’s most lethal choking hazard.

Made from Konjac, these candies are usually sold in a coffee-creamer-sized packages. Sadly, in this size and shape, they can completely block the larynx, like a rubbery cork between the vocal cords.

Gel candies are exceptionally dangerous because they act in two phases:

  1. Initially, as rubber stoppers, causing complete airway obstruction.
  2. Eventually, as a sticky glue that is extremely hard to remove.
    (Airway instruments need to be discarded.)

Konjac is also known as devil’s tongue, konjaku, voodoo lily, snake palm and fibrous elephant yam.

These candies were promoted as a “health food” in some Pacific Rim countries.
In Japan, they became known as “the deadly mouthful”.

Konjac is often used to make Bubble Tea pearls (or cubes), which can shoot up a straw & into the airway.

Media Coverage and Examples of Positive Action (Warnings, Bans and Legislation)

2 Year Old Boy Dies After Choking on a Gel Candy in Bolivar City (Bogota)[Ref:50]

ALERT!! … Unbelievable…

A 2 year old baby died a few hours ago, after choking on a gel candy, bought by his parents in a grocery store in Bolivar City, a popular neighbourhood in Bogota, Colombia.

Little Juan Esteban was chewing the gel candy and suddenly it got stuck into his throat, blocking his breathing.

His parents took him immediately to the Emergency Room of the local Health Centre, but he arrived without vital signs.

Police and personnel from the District Attorney office attended the hospital to inspect the body, next to the devastated little one’s parents and relatives.

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Did You Know?!

In the European Union each year, approximately 20 children (14 years or younger) die from choking on a toy.[Ref:34]

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