A Potential Choking Hazard (NAPSA)—Is an innocent-lookimg kid’s checolate candy a possible choking hazard? That’s the alarming question put by con- sumer advocates to the manufacturer of a chocolate-covered plastie ege sold in retail cutlets such as 7-Eleven stores. Megga Surprize is the brainchild of a small Florida manufacturing company, Whetstone Candy Corpany, which vigorously denies the charge. The product itself looks like a traditional foil-encased chocolate egg, the kind that’s particularly popular at Easter. When you peel off the foil, vou find a plastic egg covered in a layer of chocolate. The plastic egg pulis apart, revealing a selection of paper toys and stickers. You have the choice of eating the chocolate layer or just ignoring it to get to the goodies inside. Even when the chocolate is eaten, the container retains its chocolate smell, attracting children to this potential choking hazard, sayits critics. At best, Megga Surprize is a trite idea: fool the consumer into thinking you've bought an ordinary chocolate ege and get a big plastic surprise. But the National Con- sumers League and the Consumer Federation of America have bigger concerns. So concerned, in fact, that they've written to the Consumer Product Safety Commission urging its recall. Their primary concern is about cS me GY he potential choking hazard pre- sented by the product. However, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Megga Surprize has passed federal tests designed to assess its choking potential. But the Commission did voice another concern about the product, describing the combination of plastic and chocoate in a children’s product as a “bad idea.” While it’s difficult to measure the effect of this controversy on sales of Megga Surprize, there’s n0 doubt that the oroduct is failing at the candy counter. Retailers consider Megga Surprize to be a “slow seller,” said a spokeswoman for the 7-Eleven chain, confirming that they won’t be reordering. Thanks to savvy consumers, Megga Surprize does look set te disappear from the candy shelves.
