Did You Know?!
In Europe, one in 5 childhood choking injuries involve industrial products, such as plastic and metal parts, coins, and toys.[Ref:34]
More About Gel Candies
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:
- Initially, as rubber stoppers, causing complete airway obstruction.
- 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)
- 2001 USA Today report
- August / October 2001 FDA Warnings
- FDA ban (not implemented until October 2011)
- Banned in Scotland
- Germany announces ban of jelly used by local candy makers
- Food Choking Prevention Act (2005-2006, 3rd iteration; not passed by the US Congress)
- Bubble Tea Choking Story
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.