Customs Seizes 100,000 Phony Chocolate Eggs

Ashdod customs officials seized a shipment of unrefrigerated chocolate products bound for the Palestinian Authority – and discovered one of the biggest cases of product copyright violation ever uncovered in Israel. Inside the shipping containers were over 100,000 chocolate “eggs” ostensibly manufactured by Italian firm Ferrero.

The Kinder Surprise eggs are very well known to children throughout Europe and Asia. The eggs, wrapped in distinctive colorful foil, include a small toy inside each that is supposed to be “child safe,” without parts that can be swallowed by little children.

The shipment in question raised the suspicions of customs officials, who decided to take a closer look and discovered the eggs. Possibly manufactured in China, these eggs were illegal knockoffs, bearing wrappers that looked like the real thing, yet containing dangerous toys as well as questionable ingredients.

The eggs were seized and their intended recipients were taken in for questioning. Ferrero was informed about the large scale product copyright violation.