Several collections of interesting facts published on the Internet claim that in America you cannot buy the famous sweet in the form of a chocolate egg with a toy inside. We checked whether this is actually true.

The authors of publications on a variety of resources paradoxically report that in the United States it is impossible to buy Kinder Surprise, a delicacy so familiar to millions of Russian children. Similar statements can be found in collections with interesting facts about the USA, and in materials about the history of Kinder Surprise, and on popular blogging platforms like "Peekaboo" And "Yandex.Zena".

Kinder surprise ideaarose in Italy. In 1968, Ferrero owner Michele Ferrero decided to create a sweet based on the traditional chocolate eggs that Italians gave to children for Easter. At first, the idea was received coldly, and Ferrero suggested adding milk to the future Kinder Surprise - he believed that this would attract the attention of mothers who cared that the dessert should be healthy. For six years, the Italian, together with William Salis, developed the recipe and marketing strategy, and in 1974 the company launched production. According to journalists’ calculations, Ferrero annually sells almost a billion chocolate surprise eggs.

It was the toys hidden inside the Kinder Surprise that simultaneously made this sweet a cult favorite and closed its way to American store shelves. Accepted back in 1938, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) prohibits sell confectionery products containing an “inedible object”. In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) even released a special resolution dedicated directly to Kinder Surprise and confirming that these chocolate eggs are subject to a ban not only on sale, but also on import. The latter is especially relevant, because in neighboring Canada and Mexico the sweet is legal and not all Americans are aware of the existing restrictions. Violation of the ban may lead to a fine of up to $2,500.

Ferrero was able to find a way around the ban. Since 2018 in the USA sell a sweet called Kinder Joy. The problem with the Kinder Surprise was that the container with the toy was inside a chocolate egg, and Kinder Joy consists of two plastic containers shaped like halves of an egg. Each of these halves is isolated, a toy is hidden in one, and the dessert itself is hidden in the other. Thus, there is nothing inedible inside the confectionery product, which is why Kinder Joy complies with American law.