Shortly after the Philadelphia police mistook a mint package for street drugs, the Hershey Co. vowed to change the candy?s packaging design, which some said resembled heat-sealed Baggies often associated with selling cocaine or heroin.
“It was certainly never our intention to create any confusion with this product,” Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville said about the packaging for its mint called Ice Breakers Pacs. “We take consumer and community feedback very seriously and are acting quickly to address concerns.”
Saville could notsay when repackaged Pacs might be on the shelves. Ice Breakers Pacs hit stores last month. They are square dissolvable pouches made of a dissolvable gelatin, filled with the powdered sweetener xylitol. The pouches come in blue or orange and bear the Ice Breakers logo.
“The new mint packets look just like the small sealed bags used to sell heroin, cocaine and crack in the Baltimore area,” said Michael Gimbel, drug addictions educator with Sheppard Pratt Health System. “A child could mistake these candies for the real drugs, and law enforcement, parents and school administrators will have a more difficult time in spotting real drugs from these look-alike candies.”
Gimbel said the packaging concept is similar to energy drinks with sketchy names like Blow and Cocaine. “It glorifies the drug trade to kids,” he said. “There is no need to package candies to look like street drugs.”
Hershey officials insist the mints were not formulated to resemble anything ? but the similarity was so striking that longtime veterans of Philadelphia?s police narcotics squad were fooled when they saw the mints.
Philadelphia police Chief Inspector William Blackburn also said the mints glorify the drug trade. And he warned that the resemblance could have consequences if, for example, a child familiar with the mints chews on a heat-sealed bag of cocaine.
“If Hershey is considering changes, that?s a good thing, that?s the prudent thing to do,” Blackburn said. “And that?s what we wanted ? we wanted to prevent a tragedy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
