Staff Reporter
SPAIN’S AESAN food safety agency has raised the alarm over the risk of traces of metal being found inside a type of lollipop that is widely available in stores across the country and is popular with children.
Fruity Lollipops from the brand Sweet Petites could contain the dangerous ingredient, according to AESAN.
They are sold in bags weighing 250 grams, and contain 25 lollies.
The sweets are manufactured in Pakistan and have been distributed in the Spanish regions of Andalucia, Cataluña, Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragon, Madrid and Murcia.
According to a report from radio network Cadena SER, the alert has been passed on to the relevant regional authorities so that the products can be taken off the shelves.
The alert was passed to Spain via the European Union’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), after the health authorities in the Netherlands first detected the risk of metal in the sweets.
AESAN has recommended that anyone who has purchased the product should not consume it. But if they have, and they notice any kind of strange symptoms, they should seek medical attention.
Ingesting fragments of metal can cause internal injuries, and the risk is particularly high with products aimed at children given that they may not be aware of the danger.
