Amazon.comWhat do you do when you realize your child is snacking on penis-shaped gummies? (Actually, you could ask Katie Holmes for advice. She has experience on the matter.)
A number of New Zealand parents expressed their outrage after finding out that shops in the lower South Island were stocked with 7200 bags of Dragon Sweets from China that contained gummies in the shape of male genitalia.
According to The New Zealand Herald, father Barrie Aburn said his three daughters (all under the age of 10) recently bought a bag of the candies from the market and gave it to him for his birthday. His partner, Jacqui Hawkins, said she randomly took one of the gummies from the bag, and was surprised with the sight of a tiny candy penis in her hand.
''I don't find anything amusing about it at all. I find it disgusting,'' she said, adding that another gummy (or "lolly" as they call it) in the bag was a gummy baby with a penis.
Dutch Rusk managing director Willem Van de Geest reportedly said the Stoke confectionery company imported the bags of mixed gummy lollies from a Chinese manufacturer about six weeks ago, and began receiving complaints about them two weeks later.
''You have to look at it two or three times to think that doesn't look right," he said, adding that he was completely "unaware" of what the gummies inappropriate shape. ''It won't happen again.''
And here's a fun fact: Penis-shaped gummies are apparently not considered offensive in Asia. In fact, Van de Geest says the shape is considered a sign of fertility and health. ''They wouldn't even blink an eyelid. We see it as offensive. We don't mind a hand or a foot being part of a lolly but we object to a breast or a penis.''