For a colourful children’s egg, Kinder Surprise comes with a very serious warning. Printed on the back of the packaging it says, “Not suitable for children under three years” and “adult supervision recommended”.

That is because there have been cases around the world that involving children accidentally eating the plastic toys, which poses a choking risk.   

As it turns out, in the Wild West (and East, and North and South) of the US of A, inserting plastics into food can create an “adulterated” product, which, according to 21 U.S. Code § 342, is illegal to sell.

Which means yes, you can buy a gun in the US, but don’t you even try to get your hands on a Kinder Surprise.

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To get around the law,  the US have their own version of the Kinder Surprise called the Kinder Joy, where the toy is kept in a plastic capsule inside the egg so you don’t accidentally eat it.

The Kinder Joy was originally developed to sell the chocolate treats in warm-weather markets (such as India, China and Korea) where the traditional exposed chocolate egg melted.

Tourists who unknowingly bring a Kinder Surprise into the US  – or engage in nefarious underground confectionary rings – can face major fines up to $2,500. Talk about a bad surprise.

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