US ban of Kinder eggs cracked at last

The humble Kinder Egg - the chocolate egg with a small surprise inside - can now be sold in the US

Children of America, rejoice! After a decades-long wait, a US company has finally come up with a way to sell Kinder Surprise-style toy-filled chocolate eggs in the country, sidestepping a 1938 ban on inedible toys being placed inside sweets with a new design.

The ban, which is meant to protect children from swallowing the plastic toys masked by the chocolate shells, also prohibits the import of Kinder-style sweets. Over the years, US officials are reported to have seized thousands of the treats, which can attract fines running into hundreds of dollars at the American border.

But Kevin Gass, who runs the New Jersey-based Candy Treasure, has now found a way around the prohibition. In his version, the toy is cased in a plastic capsule with a thick ridge that separates the two hollow chocolate halves. For American regulators, the ridge, which is visible when the foil covering the sweet comes off, serves the purpose of warning children that there is something hidden inside the chocolate. As an added precaution, the toys are also larger than the ones found inside foreign versions, according to ABC News.

A long-standing online petition addressed to the US Congress and digitally signed by more than 3,000 people asks US lawmakers to “help us restore the Ferrero Kinder Egg to shelves in the United States. This small matter can bring joy to millions of American children.”