I just found out that ...

[Tender Branson]

... Kinder Surprise eggs are banned in the US.

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/kinder-surprise-eggs-are-illegal-in-the-united-states-a-827741.html

[DC Al Fine]

Sounds like the Big Candy lobby at work...

[dead0man]

Well, to be fair, a lot (A LOT) more people will die choking to death than by an assault weapon.  (I bet nobody choked to death on an assault weapon last year)



but yeah, dumb law is dumb.  (but so is hiding toys inside of food aimed at children)

[angus]

I have never heard of Kinder Surprise eggs, although I'm certain I wouldn't want my child to have one based on the description provided.

I wouldn't make them illegal, though.  All this prohibition gets on my nerves.  Like prostitution, marijuana, and automatic weapons, I think that chocolate eggs with choking hazards inside should be an individual's choice. 

None of it bothers me as much as having to take off my shoes at airports.  After ten years I still get bent out of shape over that.  I whine and bitch and moan and threaten to the point that they take me aside and frisk-search me every time.  If everyone did that, I'm sure they'd stop the policy, but most folks just act like cows being herded into a slaughterhouse. 

[Tender Branson]

I have 3 nieces and nephews and I got them many of the KSEs in the past years.

Usually, you just tell the kids to eat just the chocolate and not the plastic stuff (which you ask them to build together).

If they get one of the KSEs next time, they already know ... unless they are pretty dumb kids.

[Tender Branson]

Germany actually considered a ban in 2008 as well, but that was rejected because experts were against it saying that "there is no case known in which a child choked to death because of the plastic inside the egg":

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[angus]

...kein Fall bekannt...

"bekannt" being the operative designator here, I suppose, or perhaps "noch" might work as well.

Nevermind.  I'm not paranoid about that stuff, but here toys, games, and other items always have warnings like "CAUTION:  Contains small parts.  Choking hazard.  Not suitable for children under 5." or something like that, in English and Spanish.  We have always observed such precautions with the boy.

You'll be surprised how your attitude will change if you have a child.  You'll no longer say that a child "must be dumb" or "must be a moron" to do certain things.  I used to say the same things.  Children put things in their mouths, they walk into busy intersections, and they play naked in the snow.  Parents who do not understand these things are the morons.  The children are merely ignorant.  There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

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So do they in Europe. And the KSE also has the same warning on the outside.

But Angus, I think you are a bit paranoid, I can understand this, but I distinctly recall you mentioning that you wouldn't allow your kid to play with toy guns / water guns.

[Tender Branson]

...kein Fall bekannt...

"bekannt" being the operative designator here, I suppose, or perhaps "noch" might work as well.

Nevermind.  I'm not paranoid about that stuff, but here toys, games, and other items always have warnings like "CAUTION:  Contains small parts.  Choking hazard.  Not suitable for children under 5." or something like that, in English and Spanish.  We have always observed such precautions with the boy.

You'll be surprised how your attitude will change if you have a child.  You'll no longer say that a child "must be dumb" or "must be a moron" to do certain things.  I used to say the same things.  Children put things in their mouths, they walk into busy intersections, and they play naked in the snow.  Parents who do not understand these things are the morons.  The children are merely ignorant.  There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity.

Of course, the emphasis is on "bekannt" (known cases), but I think that if there were really more cases where children choked to death eating a KSE then there would have been cases where the parents sued Ferrero. That has not happened.

Also, I was talking about kids being "dumb", if they would eat the plastic after being told they shouldn't before. Of course, the KSE should not just be given to the kids without mentioning any warning to them or just lie around, especially where toddlers are around who cannot understand your warning. But in this case, the parents are to blame. But in general, there are much more dangerous objects in a house that are not banned, like knifes, sharp objects etc. - so there is no reason to ban the KSEs in my opinion.

[angus]

but I distinctly recall you mentioning that you wouldn't allow your kid to play with toy guns / water guns.

knifes, sharp objects etc. - so there is no reason to ban the KSEs in my opinion.

haha.  Okay, maybe it's my wife's influence.  After the boy started toddling, we migrated all our knives to a very high shelf.  Also, other things started migrating upwards.  And yes we ban all gun toys in our house.  Waterguns, toy guns, etc.   (Although, to be fair he does have a toy nuclear warhead and a toy rocket and a toy flaming grain silo.)

I agree that none of those things should be banned.  I'm pretty much live and let live on these issues.  It's my choice.  Folks should be allowed to buy and sell everything, basically.  We could quibble about uranium-235 if you want to split hairs, but in any case waterguns and candy with choking hazards and lead paint shouldn't be made illegal.  I'm just saying that I wouldn't want them in my house.  In your house you can keep whatever you like.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I miss these:

[minionofmidas]

Well, to be fair, a lot (A LOT) more people will die choking to death than by an assault weapon.  (I bet nobody choked to death on an assault weapon last year)



but yeah, dumb law is dumb.  (but so is hiding toys inside of food aimed at children)

It's more a case of surrounding a cheapo crappy surprise toy with a bit of low-grade chocolate in order to lure a few extra buyers.

Definitely no accidental choking hazard whatsoever involved with the eating of the chocolate, though... just to clarify the proportions:

[angus]

Definitely no accidental choking hazard whatsoever.... just to clarify the proportions:

Apparently somebody has never watched Debbie Does Dallas.

[dead0man]

I'd totally eat that car.

[badgate]

I loved the Wonder Balls! For the few months that they were on the shelf...

[old timey villain]

My middle school English teacher used to give them to us as rewards for good grades. This was 10 years ago, so I don't know if they were banned then, but they were awesome. The toy inside was the best part.

[angus]

I don't usually go slumming in this sort of joint when I'm on vacation, but I actually ate one of the Kinder Surprise eggs today and I just thought I'd share that with you.  Actually, here in People's Republic of China it's called Kinder Joy.  Same wrapping.  Same look.  Same candy, I assume.  There was a guy dressed in a big furry Kinder Joy costume giving out samples at a SuGuo market just up the block from our apartment and I took one from him (or her?), remembering reading about the candy here.  

Nasty.  Sickeningly sweet.  My son took one smell and wouldn't touch it.  To be fair, he loathes chocolate in all its forms, and won't touch milk either, so that wasn't surprising.  But I actually eat chocolate once in a while, and although I'm not crazy about it, I sort of like it.  This one was just nasty sweet.  It was a bit like sucking on a waterballoon filled with a mixture of sucrose and isopentyl acetate, but perhaps slightly less toxic.  Slightly being the operative word here.

On a brighter note, there was a nifty toy inside.  It was a little finger paintbrush and a paper panel with three colors (red, green, and blue), of water-soluble paint.  You put the little paintbrush on your finger like a pencil topper, and then fill the plastic eggshell with water, then dip the brush in water and use it to smear the paint.  He had fun with it for about 60 seconds.  He's sort of a short-attention-span toy man, so that's not really a put down.  I could see the appeal of the toy, although the candy doesn't hold much appeal.  I can't see myself going out of my way to buy one.

I will admit that it seemed to be no greater choking hazard than all the other little toys that you find in the various unhealthy children's snacks on the shelf in the USA, so I'm not quite sure what any of the fuss is about.

Hershey's, by the way, is marketing a chocolate ice cream over here called Lancaster.  No kidding.  It has a picture of a windmill and a grain silo on the label.  I guess they're playing up the S.E. Pennsylvania Dutch Country goodness of the milk chocolate.  It's not bad, as chocolate ice cream goes.  Again, I'm not a big fan, but for those who are into the chocolatey goodness it's probably delicious.  I've never seen it on the other side of the Pacific, but then there are many things I've seen (and smelled) here than I haven't seen (or smelled) on the other side of the Pacific.  I'd love to bring some back for souvenirs but I'm not sure it would survive the plane ride back.  Certainly our wardrobe wouldn't survive its decomposition.  

Have fun.  I'll check in again when I return to the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Haven't read any newspapers lately.  Hope we're not at war or Obama's not impeached or an earthquake hasn't hit southeastern Pennsylvania or anything like that.  I guess I'll find out when I get back.

再见  

[minionofmidas]

Kinder Joy would be this thing - the summer replacement (the rather thin chocolate of a Kinder Surprise can melt out of form too easy.)

[Franknburger]

On a brighter note, there was a nifty toy inside.  It was a little finger paintbrush and a paper panel with three colors (red, green, and blue), of water-soluble paint.  You put the little paintbrush on your finger like a pencil topper, and then fill the plastic eggshell with water, then dip the brush in water and use it to smear the paint.  He had fun with it for about 60 seconds.  He's sort of a short-attention-span toy man, so that's not really a put down.  I could see the appeal of the toy, although the candy doesn't hold much appeal.  I can't see myself going out of my way to buy one.

Apparently, your boy had the misfortune to receive a toy designed for girls. Believe me, they have also toys that keep boys with short attention spans (such as our son) busy for more than a minute. Asides, you can use the yellow plastic eggs that hold the toys for nice construction works (provided, of course, you have more than just one or two with you). In any case, we found the eggs quite useful to keep the kids busy in certain situations, e.g. when waiting for a restaurant meal to come (there is actually a number of restaurants here in Germany that distribute the eggs to the kids, alongside the free welcome drink for the adults).

[angus]

we found the eggs quite useful to keep the kids busy in certain situations, e.g. when waiting for a restaurant meal to come (there is actually a number of restaurants here in Germany that distribute the eggs to the kids, alongside the free welcome drink for the adults).

Nihao ponyo.  They do that sort of stuff in US restaurants as well.  Usually it involves a package of four crayons and a page to color, but sometimes it's a toy.  Never keeps the boy busy for more than a short while.  We have learned to take books with us.  He's an avid reader, and will try to read anything. 

Free welcome drinks I haven't ever seen in China or the USA, although they're ubiquitous in Mexico, especially in tourist areas. 

Lots of other Kinder brand stuff here.  Long Bars, sliders, minis, and stuff.  There's basically a big orange-and-white Kinder rack in every market in China.  Mostly US brands are marketed here.  There's a tiny market across the street and I counted about 14 US brand chocolate candies, 2 German, 1 British, and 3 Chinese.  That's about the ratio of the chocolate brands at the bigger stores as well.  (We gringos are pretty good at marketing.)  I can't say I've tried most of them.  The only chocolate bars I ever really liked as a kid are Cadbury's Thick Fruit & Nut and, of course, the Mars Bar.  I can't say I've had either one of those in more than two decades.  Tastes change, you know.  Speaking of grown-up tastes, Germans seem to have a heavy hand in the marketing of beer in China.  I count about a 1 to 0.5 ratio of Chinese to German beers in most big markets.  Not too shabby.  I'm not a big beer fan either.  I rate beer like chocolate.  It's a once in a while thing, but I tried a new one today:  Licher Hefeweizen.  Room temperature.  Not bad.  I usually drink hard liquor or red wine.  (The boy had a bit of a stomach ache and the wife took him to a medicine man, so I made myself scarce and took the subway to Xinjiekou for a sorely-needed solo outing.  Love the medical system here.  Not rationed like Canada; not arrogant like the USA; not backward like Mexico.  You just walk into a foul-smelling clinic/pharmacy and tell the man what's wrong, and for a few yuan you get a recipe of bat's wings and eye of newt that has a success record back for more than three thousand years.  Just hold your nose, swallow it, and go about your business.  No insurance companies, no unnecessary MRI, no invasive procedures.  All they wanted in today's case was a sample of the boy's shit, which apparently took some coaxing and lots of fresh fruit and rice and liquids, so they could run it into a mass spectrometer and look for some trace or other.  Glad I spent the day shopping!  Anyway, they gave him some nasty-tasting herbs and he was all better by mid-afternoon.  We've had several experiences with the chinese medical system now and I have to say that of all the countries to get sick in, I've enjoyed the cures better here than in all the other.  That said, I do enjoy the toilets much, much more in the USA.  I think the best way to get rid of the smell of urine in a hospital is to clean it up, not just burn some incense.  Ah, I guess the proper Dao attitude would be that you have to take the yin with the yang.  It's all good)

Mostly I just hung out in walmart.  There's a huge five-storey one in xinjiekou.  Walmarts in big cities in the Far East are *very* impressive, like the ones in Mexico City.  Man, the bastards have started charging for bags!  Can you believe that?!  Last time I was in China everyone gave you a bag with your purchase, for free, just like in the USA.  In the US, the only stores that don't give you a free bag are the really cheesy ones in poor neighborhoods.  I noticed when I was living in Germany, and later when I was living in Amsterdam, that supermarkets don't give you a free bag.  Apparently that's been the norm there since the early 70s or before, but in China, it was always just like the US, Canada, and Mexico.  You buy something, they give you a bag.  Today, I bought about 160 yuan worth of little sh**t at Walmart and they didn't even give me a bag.  They wanted 3 jiao for a bag.  Seriously.  3 jiao is 3/10 of one yuan, or about five cents US.  I refused it, and then just took my stuff and went to an empty teller's aisle and snagged a bag from under the counter.  I just spent 160 yuan in your store, bitches.  Be damned if I'm gonna pay 3 jiao for a bag.  I can get away with that sort of stuff.  Couldn't do it if I were Chinese.  My first roomie in college was Iranian.  I know I've posted about him often.  He used to get away with all sorts of stuff.  He always went into me no speak English mode when the going got tough.  Clever bastard.  Today I was that guy.  What?  No bag?  I don't understand.  You give me bag, bastards.  I take bag.  I buy stuff here, I get bag.  We cool.

The 500-mL Licher was consumed under the shade of a tree on Hongwu Lu about 200 meters south of Walmart.  The bag I filched would fit everything but one thing, so I just decided the beer should be the odd man out.  I didn't want to keep carrying it all the way to the subway station so I sat down on a stone and watched a shoe repair guy repair a young man's shoe from his stool and pedicart.  It was actually interesting.  I'd never seen a guy replace a sole of a shoe before.
 

[angus]

Saw one called Kinder Bueno today.  It was on sale so I decided to give it a go.  No little eggs, but two crispy long bars individually packaged, like a Twix in shape and texture, but sweeter.  Same flavor, basically, as the little Kinder egg candy.  I could put my finger on it this time.  It reminded me of Nutella, which was all the rage back in the 90s.  My brother used to love to eat that stuff when we were young, early to mid 70s.  I didn't much care for it.  He'd make peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches on wheat bread.  I didn't much care for it.  To be fair, he called tuna fish "cat food" although I'd much rather have that between two slices of wheat bread.  I always savor the savory flavors.  Give me garlic, green onion, and fish.  You can keep the chocolates.  Guess that's why I didn't marry a swiss woman.  Ah, each to his own tastes I always say.

Bought a cup of Joe this morning.  First time in three weeks.  I normally drink about half a pot of strong coffee that I make myself every morning before lunch, but when I'm on vacation I drink much less, as a practical matter.  Here I drink practically none--although I usually have a cup or two of tea per day--but I discovered a little Italian joint in an alley a few blocks away that has coffee.  Well, it's not like there's a little old man from tuscany who sings opera and plays accordion while his monkey grinds coffee beans with a hammer.  It's more like a young college-age chinese girl who barely speaks English and is really clueless about the pronunciation of words like macchiato and caffè  Americano wearing a paper Duncan Donuts style hat that says "Benvenuti!" and a nametag that says DingXue.   Still, she maintains a clean head.  Tissue even.  And soap.  It's like you can almost forget that you're in the "developing" world in her little joint.  Anyway, since I've been more or less caffeine free for a few weeks I guess I've lost the resistance.  I had two large (~16 ounce) cups of some surprisingly decent, strong Americano this morning and I was pretty much bouncing off the walls.  Good thing they were built by Ming dynasty emperors 700 years ago with an eye to the city's defense.  They've withstood harder bounces than mine.  Finally, it's wearing off.  Time to try to wind down.

Everybody have fun tonight.

Everybody wang chung tonight. 

[minionofmidas]

Nutella is from the same company, so...

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Another banned item.

[dead0man]

Another banned item.

well, sort of.  You can certainly still get them, but yeah, the lawyers and politicos are very much on the war path.  We must have 20,000 of them here at work.

[Alcon]

is it bad that i'm a grown man and I don't trust myself around those neocube things after reading the product warning?

Terrifying