Health authorities have seized and destroyed 11,300 mini jelly cups from businesses in Sydney, claiming they contained a hazardous substance that can cause choking and block the stomach.

NSW Health reported that three businesses in western Sydney had the jelly in stock.

The cups contain konjac, a food additive made from the konnyaku plant. In Australia, this additive is banned in some products because it prevents the jelly from dissolving when ingested. This can be a choking hazard and can block the stomach.

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The additive, also known as conjac, glucomannan, taro flour or yam flour, has been linked to deaths in Australia and overseas.

Importing and supplying banned mini-jelly products could result in fines of up to $50 million for companies and $2.5 million for individuals.

NSW Health received tips from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in July that suppliers in Wetherill Park and Wentworth Point had imported the products.

Also, following a customer complaint to the ACCC, it was reported that a retailer in Banksmeadow was stocking the jelly.

“As a result, each company was issued an embargo to stop sales of the products, ordered to destroy their stock and issued a voluntary recall for any products that may have been sold,” a NSW Health spokesperson said.

“The traders involved in the enforcement operation sold only one packet of the banned mini-jelly products. This packet was returned to the supplier and subsequently destroyed.

“NSW Fair Trading was present when the remainder of the prohibited mini jelly products identified during inspections were destroyed to ensure they no longer posed a risk to consumers.”

New South Wales Fair Trade Commissioner Natasha Mann encouraged consumers to read the ingredients of mini jelly cups to make sure they don’t contain konjac.

“The traders in this case have cooperated with our investigators, but let the destruction of these goods send a message to companies considering importing banned mini-jelly products – we will take action,” Mann said.

Cups of konjac are prohibited in Australia if they have a height or width of 45mm or less.

A three-year-old Sydney boy died in 2000 after eating from a cup, and a two-year-old boy in Queensland nearly suffocated the year before.

A 2002 government statement noted that candy was a global problem, with eight deaths in Japan, five in the United States and one in the United Kingdom.

In 2018, a Melbourne woman was hospitalized after eating Japanese konjac noodles, causing her stomach to expand five times its normal size, causing her to experience persistent pain and vomiting.

According to the doctors, this was because the noodles did not break down and blocked her stomach.

-With AAP.