Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Outbreaks & Recalls on June 4, 2025
A HARIBO recall for gummy candy was announced in the Netherlands after concerned parents found their children sick. When the product was tested, a surprising contaminant was discovered.
Cannabis.
Edibles are a growing trend. However, the additive should never be found in children’s candy.
Here’s what we know so far about the HARIBO recall for cannabis contamination.
According to reports, several people (including children) began feeling unwell after consuming the same style candy.
Happy Cola F!ZZ gummies manufactured by HARIBO.
These cola shaped candies were suspected as the cause for those “health complaints.” Namely dizziness.
Concerned parents brought the package to their local police station because they were worried that there was something wrong with the candy.
Forensic analysis revealed the presence of cannabis in the cola shaped gummies, said Saïda Ahyad, a spokesperson for the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) in the Netherlands.
“How the cannabis ended up in the sweets is still unknown. The police are conducting further investigation into this.”
The biggest concern is that the packs of candy were genuine HARIBO products.
How could something like this happen?
So, how exactly does cannabis end up in “genuine” HARIBO packaging?
That is the answer the police are looking for.
“We want to know exactly how it got into the candy and, of course, how the bags ended up in the store,” a police spokesperson, Chantal Westerhoff, said.
One theory.
Drug smugglers
Police have indicated that drug smugglers are increasingly using popular children’s candy as a cover for getting their drugs into the country. Several gangs have been caught injecting THC into candy.
In fact, copies of HARIBO’s popular gummy bears with THC in them can be found online.
The Netherlands police are actively working on the situation.
“This is a live issue and HARIBO is working closely with the Dutch authorities to support their investigation and establish the facts around the contamination,” said a police statement.
Three packages with the same lot were identified so far in this cannabis contamination. As a precaution, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority says that a HARIBO recall for these potentially contaminated candies have been undertaken as a precaution.
The recall includes “a limited number of cases” in the east of the country. “The safety of our consumers is our highest priority and HARIBO takes this incident very seriously,” says Patrick Tax, vice-president of marketing at HARIBO.
Recall:
Warning Number 29-05-2025
HARIBO recalls HARRIBO Happy Cola F!ZZ
1000 gram packages
Production code: L341-4002307906
At least shelf-stable to: January 2026
“Don’t eat the sweets.”
No other HARIBO products are subject to recall at this time.
“This is a live issue and we are working closely with the Dutch authorities to support their investigation and establish the facts,” Tax told Agence France-Presse.
According to the HARIBO, recalled bags may be returned by mail for a refund.
This is not the first time that children have been inadvertently exposed to cannabis or THC from candy.
In fact, six children between the ages of four and 14 were sickened in 2023. These children also consumed candy containing THC (one of the active ingredients in cannabis). But in this case, the candy involved were not regular or commercially available products. Police indicated that the candy was found in the home.
Identifying and detecting cannabis and THC in food can be difficult. Many of the marihuana edibles sold in places where recreational marijuana is legal are often in forms that mimic the appearance of popular candy brands.
These edibles are a heated topic, as they can lead to accidental consumption.
Children are particularly vulnerable to cannabis consumption. The THC in cannabis products has a greater effect on their small bodies due to their size and weight.
This is especially true for children under the age of 12.
Many young children who consume marijuana or cannabis edibles require hospitalization due to the severity of their symptoms.
Common symptoms include:
Since 2012, when the states of Colorado and Washington approved adult-use recreational marijuana, other states have followed.
In 2014, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia also approved adult, recreational use. California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada legalized it in 2016. Vermont joined in 2018, Illinois in 2019, and New Jersey more recently.
However, as more and more problems have occurred with underage use and abuse of these products, states have begun walking back these approvals. Or rather, placing much more strict parameters in place.
One of the biggest problems lawmakers see with legal recreational marijuana use is the packaging for edible products.
Even adults like colorful products that taste like the foods they are mimicking. Cookies, packaged brownies, gummies. If you live in a state where this is legal, you have likely seen them hanging up at the convenience store cash register.
But once those products get home, they can be indistinguishable from the real thing. An untrained eye may mistake them for an off brand of the real product. Unless you are looking at the fine print (and what child does when it comes to candy), the THC content may be overlooked.
In this case, however, the tainted products appeared to have been packaged in authentic and genuine HARIBO packaging. A whole other problem entirely.
It will be interesting to see how this story develops.
Will we ever understand how three bags of HARRIBO Happy Cola F!ZZ candy tainted with THC got into the hands of children?
Hopefully.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “HARIBO Recall Announced in The Netherlands After Children Consumed Cannabis Candy,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)