A little girl in Australia has a message for the rest of the world after one of her favorite candies left her in pain. Who remembers growing up and seeing how long you could handle sucking on a sour Warhead candy before making a face?
I used to do that all the time, and when Willow Wright discovered her brother’s secret stash of candy, she went straight for the Warheads. The 4-year-old grabbed about 10 of the hard candies and quickly ate them.
Mom Shares a Warning After Her Young Daughter Gets Her Hands on a Handful of Warheads
Now, she’s vowing to never eat Warheads again. In an interview with 9 News, after eating the candies, she ran upstairs to tell her mom that her “tongue is really sore and it hurts.”
Willow then told her mom that it felt like the skin on her tongue was falling off. And when her mom looked, the 4-year-old’s tongue did dent where the skin had actually started to peel away.
“I burst into tears because I was really worried, I’d never seen this before,” Kirsty said. After calling the doctor, Kirsty said she was told there wasn’t much she could do for her little girl.
The doctor suggested that Willow suck on something cold like a popsicle or an ice couple and take pain medication. The doctor believed it would heal in a few days.
“He did say we were very lucky because the tongue is the fastest to heal in the entire body.” Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened.
On the Warheads official website, it suggests that the candy isn’t for everyone, and is not suggested for children under the age of four. “Some candy is only for ages 4 and up due to choking hazards. As far as whether or not your taste buds can handle sour candy, that depends on the individual person.”
As the website continued, “some people’s mouths are more sensitive to acids in food (pineapple, citrus) as well as to sour candy. The acids we use include Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, and Malic Acid. Please be aware that all these ingredients are approved by the FDA for use in foods and are included at levels at or below regulatory limits.”
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While their candy meets all of the FDA guidelines, “some people may have an increased sensitivity to these ingredients. To ensure a fun and enjoyable eating experience, a voluntary statement is printed on every package warning that the candy is extremely sour and can be an irritation to sensitive mouths and tongues.”
Finally, the company writes, “If your mouth experiences any irritation, sour candy is probably too extreme for your tongue and you should stick to Circus Peanuts.”
Nonetheless, while the voluntary warnings are out there, Willow’s mom told News 9 that she wanted to make sure parents were aware of the harm Warheads have the potential to cause. “I literally went on a rampage and threw every lollie out of the house. I just wanted to make it aware to parents just how dangerous these lollies really are.”