CPSC Warns of Banned "Kinder Chocolate Eggs" Containing Toys Which Can Pose Choking, Aspiration Hazards to Young Children

April 13, 2006 - WASHINGTON, D.C. � The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is aware of reports that some retailers in the U.S. have been selling Kinder-brand chocolate eggs in advance of the Easter holiday. CPSC staff is alerting retailers that the product as sold is banned in the U.S. and they should be removed from store shelves. In August 1997, CPSC conducted a recall of these eggs.

This product is banned for sale in the United States because the toy surprise hidden inside can pose choking and aspiration hazards to children younger than 3 years of age.

The Kinder eggs are hollow milk chocolate eggs about the size of a large hen's egg in an orange, white and blue foil wrapper. The toy within the egg is contained in an oval-shaped plastic capsule. The toy requires assembly and each egg contains a different toy. The labeling is in various languages.

Consumers who have purchased this product should immediately take them away from young children.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.asp. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.