In November 2007, The Hershey Company first introduced Ice Breakers Pacs in stores. Almost immediately, controversy began to erupt about this new product.
Why all the fuss over candy? These breath mints, which are packaged in small pouches, look similar to illegal powdered drugs such as cocaine, crack, and heroine.
Ice Breakers Pacs, a sugar-free candy, is made with Xylitol sweetener and comes in orange and cool mint flavors. Each packet consists of two dissolvable breath mints that form a pouch which holds the powdered sweetener.
These packets, according to officers from police narcotics divisions all over the country, look much like the small heat-sealed bags used for selling street drugs. Captain Paul McBurney of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department Counter Narcotics Team told WTOC-TV, “It comes too close to looking like powdered cocaine.”
Police officers and concerned parents around the country are voicing concerns of this candy’s resemblance to street drugs. And, more importantly, they are speaking out about the dangers of illegal drugs being mistaken for candy by an innocent child.
The Hershey Company insists Ice Breakers Pacs were not created with any malicious intent. They have, however, been forced to reexamine the appearance of this candy product. On January 24, 2008, Hershey’s CEO David J. West announced, “We are sensitive to these viewpoints and thus have made the decision that we will no longer manufacture Ice Breakers Pacs.”
The Hershey Company expects the previously distributed product to be sold out early this year and no more will be produced. But, as of now, Ice Breakers Pacs have not been recalled from store shelves.
I’d love to hear what you think. Would you buy this product? Should Ice Breakers Pacs be pulled from shelves? Was Hershey irresponsible in its initial decision to produce this product?
