Who can eat 1 kilogram (2 lbs) of chocolate in15 minutes?

[Guest guest]

Just when I think I'm past being shocked by food manufacturers

(using the word food loosely of course)..... Now anyone who could

eat 1kg of katya's coconut candies in 15 minutes is a real hero!!

deb (in NZ)

Giant eggs hatch a real pig's breakfast this Easter

Green MP Sue Kedgley, the Party's Safe Food and Consumer Affairs

spokesperson, today slammed the marketing of huge, one kilogram

chocolate Easter eggs that challenge children to eat the giant egg

in less than 15 minutes, saying it was the height of

irresponsibility.

The `What a Pig' eggs are being sold through branches of The

Warehouse. The Warehouse is a shareholder in Waikato Valley

Chocolates, the company producing the eggs.

The packaging of the eggs displays a `Pig-o-meter' time scale says

that if a child takes more than two hours to eat the egg they are

a `loser', whereas if they eat it in less than 15 minutes the child

is a legendary pig. In between, the child is either a hero or a wimp.

" Encouraging children to eat these huge eggs, which contain one cup

of fat and two and a half cups of sugar, in 15 minutes is completely

irresponsible, " said Ms Kedgley. " Then to suggest that they are a

wimp or loser for not eating it in an hour is a terrible message to

send to our children.

" Essentially, children are being egged on to eat four times the

recommended daily intake of calories in less than 15 minutes. "

Ms Kedgley called on the Warehouse to remove these eggs from its

shelves. " The Warehouse cannot credibly claim to be socially

responsible when it is marketing food in this totally irresponsible

way.

" How can we encourage children to eat healthy food when they're

branded a loser for not gobbling up a massive Easter egg in 15

minutes? " asked Ms Kedgley. " This is the kind of exploitative

marketing that is fuelling the obesity epidemic.

" It's horrifying to think of what will happen to children if they

take up the challenge and stuff themselves with this pig's breakfast

of sugar and fat in less than 15 minutes. "

Based on nutritional information on the packaging, the egg contains

304 grams of fat, 586 grams of sugar and contains 5,384 calories.

This equates to one cup of fat and two-and-a-half cups of sugar.

" Easter's always been a time of indulgence for children and it's

good to have fun with food, but these speed-racing eggs go beyond

the realms of acceptability, " said Ms Kedgley.

Australia's recommended daily intakes indicate four to seven year-

old children consume 1442 to 1923 calories per day; for eight to 11

years, the range is 1682 to 2163 calories. New Zealand has not yet

set guidelines.