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experts recommend parents learn snack guidelines and call for stronger market supervision

text/photo: yangcheng evening news omnimedia reporter zhu jiale intern xie jiaqi

"suck it, chew it, and spit it out"... recently, wax bottle candies, a "net celebrity snack" with various styles, bright colors and unique taste, have become popular on the internet, attracting many teenagers and children to try it. some anchors even bring children to promote the product.

how popular is wax bottle candy among children? what are its ingredients? is it safe to eat? with these questions, the reporter recently visited many primary schools in guangzhou and foshan to understand the sales situation and interviewed doctors, scholars and lawyers to give relevant suggestions.

phenomenon: the products are sold around schools and children are even seen promoting them.

from september 7 to 10, the reporter visited eight primary schools in tianhe district, guangzhou, yuexiu district, guangzhou, and nanhai district, foshan. wax bottle candies were seen in the convenience stores and stationery stores near four schools. some stores even placed them in more conspicuous locations. the price of each box was 1 to 2 yuan.

according to some shop owners, wax bottle candies are popular among primary school students, and some styles of wax bottle candies have already been sold out. one owner told reporters that wax bottle candies were already popular among primary school students last semester.

a sixth-grade student in foshan told the reporter that five or six classmates in his class had eaten wax bottle candy. when the reporter asked him if he knew what wax bottle candy was made of and whether it had any effects, he replied: "it's made of wax, but i'm not sure about the details."

the reporter searched the keyword "wax bottle candy" on an e-commerce platform and found that some stores had sales of more than 800,000. in some live broadcast rooms selling wax bottle candy, there were an average of 1,000 to 2,000 people watching online. some parents even brought their minors to the live broadcast room to eat and sell wax bottle candy together, with the number of people online in the live broadcast room reaching about 500.

concern: the composition of wax bottle candy is unknown. is the beeswax food grade?

what is wax bottle candy made of? according to the wax bottle candy package bought by the reporter from the canteen, the ingredients list shows that it contains maltose syrup, water, white sugar, food additives (beeswax, acetylated distarch phosphate, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, acesulfame potassium, citric acid, potassium sorbate, carmine, tartrazine, brilliant blue, amaranth), and edible flavors.

many netizens commented that "it tastes like chewing wax and makes me feel sick after eating it" and "it feels like there is a layer of candle on my teeth." the main ingredient that has caused widespread discussion is "beeswax." whether it is "food-grade beeswax" or "industrial wax" cannot be determined from the food packaging.

the reporter randomly clicked on a taobao store with sales of over 100,000. the ingredient list showed that it contained "food-grade beeswax" and was equipped with a test report that said "zero benzene aromatic hydrocarbon content". however, when the reporter asked the customer service whether they could provide a detailed test report, the other party said that it would only be provided after an order was placed. according to the report results of a wax bottle candy sent by an online celebrity review blogger, all four wax bottle candies were found to contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are cumulative carcinogenic risk substances.

on social media platforms, many parents expressed their concerns about wax bottle candies, saying, "children want to buy them when they see them, but they feel sick after eating them." "what if children don't know that the candy shells cannot be swallowed and they chew them as if they were ordinary candies? it's really worrying!"

guidance: there are health risks and parents are urged to learn snack guidelines

wax bottle candy has caused a lot of discussion. is there a food safety risk? how can parents guide their children to choose popular online snacks?

"wax candies are usually made of beeswax and contain syrup. many primary school students, due to their immature judgment, may not pay attention to whether the product is regular and hygienic like adults, and often buy it just because it looks interesting," said chen junrong, deputy chief physician of the sixth affiliated hospital of sun yat-sen university. she reminded young people and parents that the hygiene and additives of such products are often difficult to guarantee, and long-term intake poses a risk of cancer. in addition, it may also cause a series of health problems such as indigestion, tooth decay, and obesity.

regarding the pahs detected in wax bottle candy, zhou quan, associate professor of the department of nutrition and food hygiene at the school of public health of guangzhou medical university, said, "this shows that industrial paraffin is very likely used, but as a food, it should theoretically have an edible wax shell. since the product lacks standards and a detailed list of ingredients, there are great food safety risks. and it contains a lot of sugar, which is a restricted consumption category."

there is actually authoritative guidance on how children should eat snacks - the "guidelines for snacks for chinese children and adolescents (2018)" jointly compiled by the nutrition and health institute of the chinese center for disease control and prevention and the chinese nutrition society.

zhou quan called for parents to supervise and manage children's snacking habits. schools can offer classes for parents to learn the national snacking guidelines and guide children to choose healthy snacks. at the same time, parents should learn to read food labels and understand the nutritional value of products through ingredient lists. she also mentioned that changing recipes frequently, paying attention to food diversity, and guiding children to eat a good meal can also help reduce snack intake.

protection: it is difficult to protect the rights of products without any license, and lawyers suggest strengthening market supervision

the wax bottle candies purchased by the reporter have complete labels on the manufacturer, implementation standards, ingredient list, etc., which can be checked. however, at the same time, there are also many snacks sold by merchants that are "three-no" products.

as the school season begins, a staff member of a market supervision and management office in guangzhou told reporters that the market supervision department routinely conducts food safety inspections around schools, and law enforcement personnel will strengthen law enforcement, verify products without any labels and other commodities that are harmful to health, and protect the health of students.

from a legal perspective, jiang jianfei, a lawyer at guangdong jinling law firm, said that if online celebrity snacks do not have a food production license, it may be difficult to guarantee food quality. foods without labels such as manufacturer, implementation standards, and ingredient lists on the packaging are suspected of violating the "food safety law of the people's republic of china" and related national standards. when food safety risks occur, it is difficult to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. if you find that there are three unlicensed foods on the market, you can report it to the market supervision department through the 12345 platform.

for foods that are not "three-no" products, the market supervision department will conduct an investigation after receiving illegal clues. according to article 31 of the "interim measures for handling complaints and reports of market supervision and administration", after receiving a real-name report, the market supervision department will make a decision to file a case if it believes that there is indeed a suspicion of illegality. after the case is filed, further investigation will be conducted.