Velvet Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 A cross-border kerfuffle over a popular chocolate treat nearly cost a Winnipeg woman a $300 fine and saddled her with a bureaucratic headache. Lind Bird was recently stopped at the U.S. border and selected for a random search of her vehicle. She was warned she could have faced a fine after the customs official found — and seized — her $2 Kinder Surprise egg as illegal contraband.Bird learned U.S. authorities have banned the candy because they come with a plastic toy inside that could, if eaten, choke a small child."It's just a chocolate egg," Bird said. "And they were making a big deal. They said 'if you were caught with this across the border you would get charged a $300 fine,'" she said."It's ridiculous. It's so ridiculous," she added.In Canada, however, officials said the eggs are so difficult to get into there's little chance they could harm anyone. As such, they are legal.The U.S. takes catching illegal Kinder candy seriously, judging by the number of them they've confiscated in the last year. Officials said they've seized more than 25,000 of the treats in 2,000 separate seizures."They have been determined to present … a choking hazard to young children," said Mike Milne, a spokesman for the U.S. department of customs and border protection. Milne said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration supports the Kinder Surprise ban.As trivial as the border seizure may seem, Bird said the U.S. government has sent her a seven-page letter asking her to formally authorize the destruction of her seized Kinder egg."I thought it was a joke. I had to read it twice. But they are serious," she said.The letter states if Bird wishes to contest the seizure, she'll have to pay $250 for it to be stored as the two sides wrangle over it.A comprehensive list of items Canadians can't import into the U.S. can be found here.With files from the CBC's Alex Freedman Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2011/01/10/man-kinder-surprise-border.html#ixzz1AkEbwa5k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 today i learned how to spell "kerfuffle." thanks, velvet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggo Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 you can buy a glock 9, but you can't have a kinder egg. F*CKED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 diversion tactic?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I didn't know that about the kinder egg. They've been around here for as long as I've had my own income. I used to buy them at Woolco in the candy dept., eat the chocolate, make a toy and go back to fake work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I scanned the list of restricted items on the link provided and could find no mention of the Kinder Egg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 ... and that, kids, is how I got to where I am today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Oblivious to their cousin's detention at the border, the penguins partied well into the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Low Roller Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I would be more worried about the dangerous lead levels in those cheap Chinese toys that come inside the Kinder eggs than the 'choking hazard'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 In German, "Kinder egg" means "child's testicle." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarfmaster C Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 i was just reading that story on the cbc. holy crap. and i thought the canadian government was a gaggle of ass-munching blowhard fucks. damn yankees. but really, i'm just dissappointed I can't stream coronaTION street from a US IP address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorgnor Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Hamilton, ftw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau. Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 I'm surprised there are folks who didn't know about this. Every few years there is a big news story about how some Canadian, or other non-American tourist gets jacked for having these. The eggs are banned due to the food, drug and cosmetic act of 1938 which prohibits the embedding of non-food items completely enclosed inside food items, unless the non-edible part has a functioning value, like a popsicle stick or lollipop stem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorgnor Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Because Americans used to break their teeth winning contests like find the gold nugget in the gumball. Bunchoffuckinggoofs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 unless the non-edible part has a functioning valueshutting up three kids in the back seat for 20 minutes is a "functioning value" as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcust99 Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Wacky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edger Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 unless the non-edible part has a functioning value shutting up three kids in the back seat for 20 minutes is a "functioning value" as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwa. Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 This story has gone virile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffhead77 Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 i was just reading that story on the cbc.holy crap. and i thought the canadian government was a gaggle of ass-munching blowhard fucks. damn yankees. but really, i'm just dissappointed I can't stream coronaTION street from a US IP address. Have you tried a hotspot blocker? I use hotspot shield specifically to watch US content - might work in the reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 This story has gone virile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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