all i can say about this is:
what about cigarettes and alcohol.
this is ridiculous.
FDA bans import of jelly candies
Binding agent called a choking hazard
Marsha Ginsburg, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, October 6, 2001
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The Food and Drug Administration banned imports yesterday of a popular but potentially deadly jelly candy that has claimed the lives of two Bay Area children and killed or seriously injured a dozen more in other countries.
The FDA order comes 1 1/2 months after hundreds of supermarkets nationwide voluntarily pulled off store shelves the conjac jelly candy, sold under a variety of names such as Jelly Yum and Fruit Poppers.
"It's tremendous. I've never seen the FDA act so quickly," said San Mateo attorney Terry O'Reilly, who is representing two South Bay families and another in Washington state suing the manufacturers of the binding agent conjac.
Among his clients were Michelle Enrile, 9, who persuaded her mother at an Asian foods store to buy the candy and then choked on one before getting through an entire bag. The San Jose girl was in a coma for two years before dying in July.
Deven Joncich of Morgan Hill had just turned 3 when he popped one of the candies into his mouth. He was in a coma for two days before his parents decided to remove him from life support.
"I don't think anyone deserves to be in this position . . . or a gel candy to take a life. Deven's life was worth more than that," said his mother, Kim Joncich.
The FDA issued a second warning to consumers yesterday that even though major stores have quit selling the hazardous candy, smaller retailers may not have stopped and families may already have it in their homes.
O'Reilly said he is investigating other cases of serious injury from the widely popular candies in Massachusetts, Canada and the Philippines.
Although retailers and distributors settled the Enrile case for $8 million, O'Reilly said the manufacturer, the Sheng Co., of Taiwan, refuses to settle. He said the company has been moving 50 million units a month of the candy, most of it to Pacific Rim countries and America.
"This was a huge product," he said.
Gary Soter, the Tarzana attorney representing the candy company, could not be reached for comment, but in an earlier statement he maintained that Michelle Enrile choked while horsing around with her sister and said, "Any food product could cause a person to choke under these circumstances.'
The candies comes in different fruit flavors and also are known as konjac, konnyaku, yam flour or glucomannan. They typically are packaged as mouth-size servings in small plastic cups, with an embedded piece of preserved fruit inside gelatin that doesn't readily dissolve in the mouth.
The FDA warned Americans in August to be careful with the candies but said it lacked firm enough evidence of a choking hazard to actually remove the products from stores. The agency said yesterday, however, that it had confirmation from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that the candies were indeed a choking hazard, and formally stopped imports.
O'Reilly said the candy has been tested and in many instances been found to contain ingredients not listed on the container, he said.
"This gel candy goes into the throat and you can't get it out," he said. "The Heimlich (maneuver) doesn't work. If you manage to get a tube in, the child is comatose," he said.
Some jars carry a label warning that the candies are not safe for children under age 6, others age 3; still others, such as in Australia, bear no warning.
"I'm so happy that it finally happened," said Yvonne Enrile, Michelle's mother. "At least children here in the U.S. are now safe. That's what we were hoping for."
Joncich said she was home with Deven and had just returned from a doctor's appointment in November when she realized her son hadn't eaten. The picky eater didn't want anything substantial, so his mother gave him a Popsicle, which he lapped up. When he popped the gel candy, which had been purchased by her mother, "everything happened so fast," said Joncich.
He quickly began choking and had a scared look on his face, she said. She tried everything to get the candy out. She quickly called 911 but was so paralyzed she could not even speak into the phone. She went outside with Deven,
laid his body down and screamed.
When the ambulance arrived, emergency workers had to vacuum the candy out of her little boy's throat. He was in a coma and never regained consciousness. Two days later, he was removed from life support.
"This would have been the last reason I thought our son would no longer be here," she said of Deven, who would have turned 4 last weekend.
"I thank God it's off the market," she said. "Other parents won't have to go through what Yvonne and I have gone through.
"It should have been done a long time ago. It's hard to say our child choked from a gel candy," she said.
E-mail Marsha Ginsburg at mginsburg@sfchronicle.com.
----------------------------------------
what about cigarettes and alcohol.
this is ridiculous.
FDA bans import of jelly candies
Binding agent called a choking hazard
Marsha Ginsburg, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, October 6, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Food and Drug Administration banned imports yesterday of a popular but potentially deadly jelly candy that has claimed the lives of two Bay Area children and killed or seriously injured a dozen more in other countries.
The FDA order comes 1 1/2 months after hundreds of supermarkets nationwide voluntarily pulled off store shelves the conjac jelly candy, sold under a variety of names such as Jelly Yum and Fruit Poppers.
"It's tremendous. I've never seen the FDA act so quickly," said San Mateo attorney Terry O'Reilly, who is representing two South Bay families and another in Washington state suing the manufacturers of the binding agent conjac.
Among his clients were Michelle Enrile, 9, who persuaded her mother at an Asian foods store to buy the candy and then choked on one before getting through an entire bag. The San Jose girl was in a coma for two years before dying in July.
Deven Joncich of Morgan Hill had just turned 3 when he popped one of the candies into his mouth. He was in a coma for two days before his parents decided to remove him from life support.
"I don't think anyone deserves to be in this position . . . or a gel candy to take a life. Deven's life was worth more than that," said his mother, Kim Joncich.
The FDA issued a second warning to consumers yesterday that even though major stores have quit selling the hazardous candy, smaller retailers may not have stopped and families may already have it in their homes.
O'Reilly said he is investigating other cases of serious injury from the widely popular candies in Massachusetts, Canada and the Philippines.
Although retailers and distributors settled the Enrile case for $8 million, O'Reilly said the manufacturer, the Sheng Co., of Taiwan, refuses to settle. He said the company has been moving 50 million units a month of the candy, most of it to Pacific Rim countries and America.
"This was a huge product," he said.
Gary Soter, the Tarzana attorney representing the candy company, could not be reached for comment, but in an earlier statement he maintained that Michelle Enrile choked while horsing around with her sister and said, "Any food product could cause a person to choke under these circumstances.'
The candies comes in different fruit flavors and also are known as konjac, konnyaku, yam flour or glucomannan. They typically are packaged as mouth-size servings in small plastic cups, with an embedded piece of preserved fruit inside gelatin that doesn't readily dissolve in the mouth.
The FDA warned Americans in August to be careful with the candies but said it lacked firm enough evidence of a choking hazard to actually remove the products from stores. The agency said yesterday, however, that it had confirmation from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that the candies were indeed a choking hazard, and formally stopped imports.
O'Reilly said the candy has been tested and in many instances been found to contain ingredients not listed on the container, he said.
"This gel candy goes into the throat and you can't get it out," he said. "The Heimlich (maneuver) doesn't work. If you manage to get a tube in, the child is comatose," he said.
Some jars carry a label warning that the candies are not safe for children under age 6, others age 3; still others, such as in Australia, bear no warning.
"I'm so happy that it finally happened," said Yvonne Enrile, Michelle's mother. "At least children here in the U.S. are now safe. That's what we were hoping for."
Joncich said she was home with Deven and had just returned from a doctor's appointment in November when she realized her son hadn't eaten. The picky eater didn't want anything substantial, so his mother gave him a Popsicle, which he lapped up. When he popped the gel candy, which had been purchased by her mother, "everything happened so fast," said Joncich.
He quickly began choking and had a scared look on his face, she said. She tried everything to get the candy out. She quickly called 911 but was so paralyzed she could not even speak into the phone. She went outside with Deven,
laid his body down and screamed.
When the ambulance arrived, emergency workers had to vacuum the candy out of her little boy's throat. He was in a coma and never regained consciousness. Two days later, he was removed from life support.
"This would have been the last reason I thought our son would no longer be here," she said of Deven, who would have turned 4 last weekend.
"I thank God it's off the market," she said. "Other parents won't have to go through what Yvonne and I have gone through.
"It should have been done a long time ago. It's hard to say our child choked from a gel candy," she said.
E-mail Marsha Ginsburg at mginsburg@sfchronicle.com.
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