More Stores Pull Candy Linked to Deaths

Federal and state health officials on Thursday continued their investigation of an imported gel candy linked to the recent choking deaths of two Santa Clara County children as at least three major grocery chains pulled the product from their stores.

Albertson’s announced Thursday that it would no longer sell Fruit Poppers and Gelly Drop candy in its 2,500 stores. The chain earlier this week had pulled the candy from 195 stores in Northern California. Costco has ordered the candy removed from 250 outlets worldwide, and Safeway pulled Jelly Yum brand candies from 200 of its Northern California stores.

Recent weeks have brought increased scrutiny of the sweet gel candy after the product was suspected in the deaths last month of 3-year-old Deven Joncich and 12-year-old Michelle Enrile.

Manufactured by at least a dozen different makers, the candy is sold in a small plastic cup and often is consumed frozen. Some products include recommendations that the candy be chewed before being swallowed, along with warnings that it’s unsafe for small children.

“We admit this stuff is very popular and presents a potential choking hazard, and we’re working with the FDA to block the import of similar products in the future,” said James Waddell, chief of the food safety section of the state health department.

Waddell said state officials consulted Thursday with the federal Food and Drug Administration, adding that the agencies were working on a joint consumer advisory, which could be issued as early as today. “The FDA evaluated this candy some time ago and felt that label warnings saying the product should be chewed completely addressed their concerns,” Waddell said. “Obviously it doesn’t if children are dying.”

Janice Oliver, deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, would only say that it is investigating the candy. “We’re considering what action is necessary, but we’re not ready to issue a nationwide alert yet.”

Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Health Department, said the agency is circulating a warning about the candy in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese.

She said the gel candy is made by numerous manufacturers, including the Taiwan-based Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods Co. and Sun Wave, whose packaging for its mango flavored mini-fruit jelly is printed in English and Spanish. “These candies are sold not only in the big grocery stores but also in many Asian specialty markets,” said Alexiou. “We’re trying to get the word out to everyone.”

Authorities say the gel is made from a substance called konjac, a product from the konnyaku root. The sweetened gel--about an inch long and an inch across--surrounds a fruit chunk, typically coconut.

“Our coroners tell us that the konjac jelly does not dissolve with saliva or heat,” said Alexiou. “We’ve heard of one death in Washington state from the candy, and we believe it’s responsible for at least a dozen more worldwide.”

Albertson’s spokeswoman Stacia Levenfeld said the stores sold the Fruit Poppers brand in the Bay Area and the Gel-ly Drop brand in the San Joaquin Valley between Sacramento and Fresno, as well as in 314 Southern California stores.

Steven Garber, a Los Angeles attorney who has represented the Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods Co. in a Santa Clara County lawsuit over an 11-year-old who was brain-damaged after allegedly choking on the candy, said the candy was the victim of a “media frenzy.”

“This product has been around for 20 years,” he said. “For a child to try and swallow it is like trying to swallow a golf ball--you can’t do it.”