• Sheep (unregistered)

    I personally enjoy the sheep thinking about Mentos..add some diet coke for a win!

    CAPTCHA: praesent (close to Christmas, I see..)

  • (cs)

    Wait...you don't have Kinder Surprise in the U.S.?

  • Justin (unregistered) in reply to Markp
    Markp:
    Wait...you don't have Kinder Surprise in the U.S.?

    You mean the Eggs Of Numbing Inevitability?

  • (cs)

    Sex-Pack FTW!

  • bencoder (unregistered) in reply to Markp

    damn I was surprised you don't have kinder surprise over there! What a ridiculous rule... "1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits embedding "non-nutritive items" in confections."

    Does that mean you don't get things in your easter eggs either? Quite a lot of easter eggs here in the uk have a toy or a packet of some other kind of sweet inside them.

  • Adam (unregistered)

    Kinder Surprises are illegal in the US? We have them in Canada and they're awesome...

  • silent d (unregistered)

    Do sheep dream of electric Mentos?

  • eViLegion (unregistered) in reply to Adam
    Adam:
    Kinder Surprises are illegal in the US? We have them in Canada and they're awesome...

    Except when the toy comes out, and its one piece, already built. Then you're denied the opportunity to build something, and have to make do with having eaten some sub standard chocolate.

  • Jochen (unregistered)

    AFAIK not so much illegal in USA. It's more like that the maker of Kinder Überraschung don't want to get sued into oblivion.

  • (cs)

    Interesting. I grew up with Kinder Surprise all my life in Canada and never once realized it, like Smarties, are not available in the US.

    Now I know what to bring my American friends next time I head south...

  • Superintendent Parrot (unregistered) in reply to bencoder
    bencoder:
    damn I was surprised you don't have kinder surprise over there! What a ridiculous rule... "1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits embedding \"non-nutritive items\" in confections."
    So Crunchy Frog is OK (since crunchy raw unboned real dead frog contains nutritious bones), while Spring Surprise is Right Out (...maybe you could finesse the spring-loaded spikes as "fortified with iron"...)
  • (cs) in reply to Adam
    Adam:
    Kinder Surprises are illegal in the US? We have them in Canada and they're awesome...
    They sell them at the pizza place I order from. They have all kinds of crazy good (also no doubt illegal) European chocolate there.
  • someguy (unregistered) in reply to bencoder

    The U.S. does not have giant chocolate easter eggs. But then, the U.K. does not have giant chocolate easter bunnies, so I'd call that about even.

    There is a product called "wonder ball" in the U.S. which, though I never had one, appeared to be the same thing as Kinder Eggs, and has a ridiculously sick-in-your-heady jingle. I do not know what gets them around the rule that prevents the sale of Kinder Eggs, or if it's just that the rule has since been repealed. (I have also seen Kinder Eggs in the U.S., in some foreign shops)

    The U.S. generally does not have:

    • Candy-filled advent calendars (only the boring religious ones)
    • Jaffa Cakes
    • Marmite

    The U.K. generally does not have:

    • seasonal variations on candy products in colorful wrappers or seasonal colors (eg: red and green M&Ms. how can anyone here live without red and green M&Ms on CHRISTMAS!?)
    • Cheetos
    • Baconaise
  • Forumtroll (unregistered)

    As mentioned with the finland candy called kick: it's with "fett" as one of the many ingredients. "Fett" is a scandianavian common word for fat. However, in my local tounge (called "trønder" for those who wonder), it can also mean vagina, but is mostly in very vulgar and frank references.

    Alex, considering your prior batles with finnish candy (we all remember you opinion on "Salmiakk"), I find it prudent to say that finnish candy contains X grammes of cunt.

    CAPTCHA: opto. Octopuss - Optocuss?

  • (cs)

    I lived in Germany for 3 years when I was a kid and DAMN this article for making me miss the candy...

  • Anders Svensson (unregistered)

    Finland has 2 official languages, finnish and swedish. "glukossirap, socker, and fett", is swedish and means, glucose-syrup, sugar and fat. Quite like the english words! (atleast in spelling)

  • Schmalls (unregistered) in reply to WhiskeyJack
    WhiskeyJack:
    Interesting. I grew up with Kinder Surprise all my life in Canada and never once realized it, like Smarties, are not available in the US.

    Now I know what to bring my American friends next time I head south...

    Smarties are available in the US.

  • (cs) in reply to Superintendent Parrot
    Superintendent Parrot:
    bencoder:
    damn I was surprised you don't have kinder surprise over there! What a ridiculous rule... "1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits embedding \"non-nutritive items\" in confections."
    So Crunchy Frog is OK (since crunchy raw unboned real dead frog contains nutritious bones), while Spring Surprise is Right Out (...maybe you could finesse the spring-loaded spikes as "fortified with iron"...)

    Sounds like someone just got the DVD box set of Monty Python. Be careful with the Pigeon Vomit.

  • (cs)

    "Smarties" in the US are different from "Smarties" in Canada (and the rest of the world).

    Smarties in Canada and the UK and Australia and Europe and etc... are chocolate buttons with a colored candy coating (like M&M's only thinner).

    Smarties in the US are what Canadians call "Rockets"; colored discs of pressed sugar.

    (Which reminds me, I need to get my annual parcels to my USian friends in the mail soon, with the load of Kinder Eggs, Smarties, Coffee Crisp, real-sugared Coke Cola, and some Ganong Chicken Bones. )

  • James (unregistered) in reply to Schmalls

    No, something else called Smarties are available, not the Smarties from the rest of the world.

  • rnatau (unregistered)

    Whoa, hold on, which self-respecting finn would send "Vivi ja Wagner" in swedish? Shame on you, finland-swede!

  • (cs)
    Except when the toy comes out, and its one piece, already built.
    No it's not.

    --- Mr. DOS

  • SorrowsJudge (unregistered)

    I can buy Kinder Surprise (They label them Kinder Eggs) at my local kitchen supply store, and I'm in the US. I have no idea what these lies are about being illegal, because I have no trouble finding them.

  • SorrowsJudge (unregistered)

    Also, Wonder Balls are a terrible imitation. The chocolate is terrible, and instead of a fun assemble-it-yourself toy, there's terrible SweetTarts candy inside, but it tastes funny from being inside an awful chocolate ball for so long. Kinder Surprise chocolate is smooth and wonderful.

  • (cs)

    Well, this was a timely article:

    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Kinder+Surprises+Banned/2353187/story.html

    A quote from the story:

    U.S. authorities are urging Canadians to stop sending Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs to that country as gifts this holiday season because of a long-standing ban on the product south of the border.

    A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection says officers noticed a spike in the lead up to Christmas this year, so are hoping the alert will reach Canadians who don't know the ubiquitous product in Canada is actually banned in the U.S.

    "It's mostly personal amounts going down as a gift," Chris Misson, a spokesman for U.S. Customs, said Thursday. "This is an informational thing to make people are aware that they don't lose the Kinder eggs at the border."

  • DA (unregistered) in reply to someguy
    someguy:
    The U.S. does not have giant chocolate easter eggs. But then, the U.K. does not have giant chocolate easter bunnies, so I'd call that about even

    Depends what you mean by 'giant', I suppose - we have easter bunnies up to about 18" high if you look for them. Eggs are still far more popular, though

  • Tânia B. Nielsen (unregistered)

    Oh, I love those gummy bears from Haribo. Everytime my dad goes to Germany I hask him to bring me those. By the way, here in Brazil we have Kinder-Überraschung, we call it "Kinder Ovo". Ovo means egg, kinder has absolutely no meaning in portuguese, someone got lazy translating that part, I guess.

  • (cs)

    I like Thomas's sense of irony.

  • Tânia B. Nielsen (unregistered) in reply to Tânia B. Nielsen

    I mean ask. I always press enter before reading what I wrote =/

  • yanamal (unregistered) in reply to eViLegion

    I know! that's so annoying, and it seems to be happening more and more... all you get is some cute character from a recent cartoon that doesn't do anything.

    But like someone mentioned, you can buy Kinder Surprises in the US, in stores that cater to european/eastern european immigrants.

  • yanamal (unregistered)

    gah, apparently reply does not imply quote, this is the post I was referring to:

    eViLegion:
    Adam:
    Kinder Surprises are illegal in the US? We have them in Canada and they're awesome...

    Except when the toy comes out, and its one piece, already built. Then you're denied the opportunity to build something, and have to make do with having eaten some sub standard chocolate.

  • OregonGhost (unregistered)

    If you like Kinder Überraschung, you'll love Kinder Überraschung ice cream, available e.g. at Giovanni L. in Northern Germany. It's not standard, but most of the time I come by, they have it available. Unfortunately, it comes without the toys, but hey, that would be sort of strange in ice cream anyway...

  • (cs)

    Kinder-Überraschung are awesome. Haven't seen them in a while. The best part is, while the are supposedly made for kids, if I remember correctly, you usually need a damned engineering degree to assemble the toys.

  • xenylamine (unregistered)

    Huh. You used to be able to get Kinder-Überraschung in the US. I used to have a ton of those little toys.

  • (cs) in reply to Markp
    Markp:
    Wait...you don't have Kinder Surprise in the U.S.?
    BS. They are sold here in european-food groceries.
  • Eevee (unregistered)

    Oh, man. I lived in Germany for three years growing up, and Kinder eggs were AWESOME. Sometimes the entire current lineup of toys would even snap together or otherwise interact to make one MEGATOY.

  • Erik (unregistered) in reply to someguy
    someguy:
    The U.S. does not have giant chocolate easter eggs. But then, the U.K. does not have giant chocolate easter bunnies, so I'd call that about even.

    The US does indeed have giant chocolate easter eggs. I'm not sure where you shop, but they're everywhere around here.

    The U.S. generally does not have: - Candy-filled advent calendars (only the boring religious ones)

    I honestly don't know where you get this from. Candy-filled advent calendars are extremely common in the US. I had them every year growing up as a kid, and they're still all over the place in every store around this time of year. In fact, the "boring religious" ones are far less common.

  • will (unregistered)

    Kinder-eggs are banned for two reasons, you cannot have non-edible items wrapped inside of edible products and the piece inside are a chocking hazard to the age of kids the eggs are designed for.

    They are uncommon enough that companies can get them in the US the import form probably has them down as chocolate candy. Also the American bases in Germany sell them at the various stores on base.

  • cmcg (unregistered) in reply to alegr

    I agree, there are two stores within a five minute walk from me that sell Kinder eggs.

  • (cs) in reply to Jetfire
    Jetfire:
    "Smarties" in the US are different from "Smarties" in Canada (and the rest of the world).

    Smarties in Canada and the UK and Australia and Europe and etc... are chocolate buttons with a colored candy coating (like M&M's only thinner).

    Smarties in the US are what Canadians call "Rockets"; colored discs of pressed sugar.

    Although I've never had the non-US Smarties, I can only assume that the reason they aren't available in the US is that Nestle couldn't be bothered to come up with a name for them to use in the US.

  • Lennart (unregistered) in reply to campkev
    campkev:
    Kinder-Überraschung are awesome. Haven't seen them in a while. The best part is, while the are supposedly made for kids, if I remember correctly, you usually need a damned engineering degree to assemble the toys.

    Yeah, back in the days... Now the toys are easy to assemble but also kinda stupid.

  • Aleksi (unregistered)

    Not only do we have tar-flavoured tar candies and tar-flavoured ice cream, we also have tar-flavoured soda pop lemonade.

  • (cs) in reply to smbarbour
    smbarbour:
    Jetfire:
    "Smarties" in the US are different from "Smarties" in Canada (and the rest of the world).

    Smarties in Canada and the UK and Australia and Europe and etc... are chocolate buttons with a colored candy coating (like M&M's only thinner).

    Smarties in the US are what Canadians call "Rockets"; colored discs of pressed sugar.

    Although I've never had the non-US Smarties, I can only assume that the reason they aren't available in the US is that Nestle couldn't be bothered to come up with a name for them to use in the US.

    Maybe, but Coffee Crisps and several other candy bars are also not available in the US.

  • nico (unregistered)

    Hey, Kinder Surprise is an Italian product, not German! In fact there's all a series of "kinder chocolate" products produced by Ferrero, including eggs, chocolate bars, little icecreame cakes covered in chocolate and so on and so on.

  • Wonko (unregistered)

    Not a slight against Americans but I do find irony in the fact that Kinder Eggs are illegal in a country where you can own (albeit with a licence) any type of firearm.

  • Bluesman (unregistered) in reply to Wonko
    Wonko:
    Not a slight against Americans but I do find irony in the fact that Kinder Eggs are illegal in a country where you can own (albeit with a licence) any type of firearm.

    Ah... but it is illegal to cover them in chocolate!

  • (cs)

    Nice to see that people are actually caring about their local shops for a change. Walmart doesn't kill local stores, cheap people kill local stores.

  • Tuuli Mustasydän (unregistered) in reply to rnatau
    rnatau:
    Whoa, hold on, which self-respecting finn would send "Vivi ja Wagner" in swedish? Shame on you, finland-swede!
    I agree! I was thinking "it's V&W volume 1! I don't have it and I wonder if I could trade him for it," but then I noticed it was Swedish >_>

    How does one mail beer overseas?

  • Jack M (unregistered) in reply to Justin

    I love you.

    And I was also amazed you don't have those eggs in the US - they get alot less impressive when them and their terrible toys are sold at every corner store.

    Then again, I haven't had one in a while.... hmm...

  • AC (unregistered)

    I think we might have uncovered the vast extent of illegal chocolate smuggling in the United States here. Let's hope no government entity finds out about this, or they might decide to take action.

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