On 11 June 2025, the FSA issued a food alert to consumers who have purchased and businesses who have sold Jolly Rancher confectionery products, owned by US company Hershey. The affected products are:
- Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
- Jolly Rancher Misfits Gummies
- Jolly Rancher Candy Fruity 2 in 1
- Jolly Rancher Berry Gummies
The FSA says that these sweets are banned in the UK because they contain mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) and mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH), which makes them “unsafe to eat and not compliant with UK laws”. The FSA alert goes on to state that “MOAH can cause damage to DNA and has the potential to increase the risk of cancer, particularly if consumed in high quantities over a prolonged period of time. MOAH is a genotoxic carcinogen, therefore no exposure is without risk to human health.” The FSA has advised food businesses who import these products to discontinue import and distribution and food businesses selling these products to immediately stop sales, undertake product withdrawals and where there have been retail sales, to undertake product recalls.
Around 12 months ago the FSA stopped Hershey’s from importing these sweets to the UK. The FSA seemingly, however, forgot that other UK food businesses would continue to import the sweets as they would be entirely unaware that the FSA had raised these, entirely unfounded concerns, about the safety of the sweets with Hershey’s, the brand owner. These sweets have therefore continued to be sold across the UK for almost 12 months, despite the FSA’s position being that they are “unsafe”. Quite remarkable in terms of poor regulatory action if there really is a food safety issue. But is there?
While MOAH does pose safety concerns, dietary exposure to MOSH poses no safety issues to any age group. So far as we are aware, all of the allegedly unsafe sweets set out in the FSA alert contain no MOAH whatsoever. Some of the products contain a trace amount of MOSH, but as this poses no safety concerns to any age, we would query on what basis the FSA has taken steps to “ban” these sweets at all.
Our Regulatory team has recognised expertise in advising clients in the food sector. If you are affected by the FSA’s recent food alert and you require any assistance in challenging these FSA decisions, please contact our Regulatory team who will be happy to help.