Woman's candy egg seized at border

[Deezy]

.A cross-border kerfuffle over a popular chocolate treat nearly cost a Winnipeg woman a $300 fine and saddled her with a bureaucratic headache.

Lind Bird was recently stopped at the U.S. border and selected for a random search of her vehicle. She was warned she could have faced a fine after the customs official found — and seized — her $2 Kinder Surprise egg as illegal contraband.

Bird learned U.S. authorities have banned the candy because they come with a plastic toy inside that could, if eaten, choke a small child.

"It's just a chocolate egg," Bird said. "And they were making a big deal. They said 'if you were caught with this across the border you would get charged a $300 fine,'" she said.

"It's ridiculous. It's so ridiculous," she added.

In Canada, however, officials said the eggs are so difficult to get into there's little chance they could harm anyone. As such, they are legal.

The U.S. takes catching illegal Kinder candy seriously, judging by the number of them they've confiscated in the last year. Officials said they've seized more than 25,000 of the treats in 2,000 separate seizures.

"They have been determined to present … a choking hazard to young children," said Mike Milne, a spokesman for the U.S. department of customs and border protection. Milne said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration supports the Kinder Surprise ban.

As trivial as the border seizure may seem, Bird said the U.S. government has sent her a seven-page letter asking her to formally authorize the destruction of her seized Kinder egg.

"I thought it was a joke. I had to read it twice. But they are serious," she said.

The letter states if Bird wishes to contest the seizure, she'll have to pay $250 for it to be stored as the two sides wrangle over it.

A comprehensive list of items Canadians can't import into the U.S. can be found here.
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Cross boarder security is absolutely Blue. It was a freaking Kinder Surprise, what kind of nefarious plot against national security would that provide? Seriously a waste of time and beyond stupid?

 

[Troy]

So they are saying that a Kinder Surprise is dangerous to little kids because they could choke on the toy inside, but Kinder Suprise's are meant for little children because there is a toy inside. Such a stupid rule to ban them when there are no issues with them around the world and if parents actually watch their kids then they aren't going to choke on the toy inside.

 

[Deezy]

Kinder Surprise toys are not that dangerous, much like any toy with small parts it is labelled with a choking hazard warning and parents should never be stupid enough to give them to small children. Small children should not even be eating candy.

 

[Troy]

Exactly they aren't dangerous when used correctly, when they are given to children too young who are unsupervised then something bad may happen. Some people are just really stupid.

 

[Deezy]

Your very right, there are alot of people who are stupid, which I think there should be a license for making children, problem is that its just too easy to have unprotected sex and not take birth controls.

You ever watch that movie Idiocracy? I have a feeling Mike Judge is right about the future.

 

[Dod Draper]

Laughable and another case of the cotton-wool, over-protective world that we live in.

Dumb parents will always be dumb parents. Making life hard for normal people isn't going to change that.