More than 2.3 million bottles of a novelty sour candy have been pulled from stores nationwide after regulators determined a small plastic ball built into the packaging can pop loose and become a choking hazard. The recall, issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on September 10, 2026, covers a liquid candy product marketed in bright colors and cartoon branding that made it a common impulse buy at checkout counters. No injuries have been reported, but the scale of the recall is large enough that the product had likely reached millions of households over the past three years.
The Recalled Sour Crush Bottles
The product is Ricky Joy-branded Sour Crush Rolling Liquid Candy, sold in small plastic bottles holding 1.85 fluid ounces of sour liquid candy that a child dispenses by rolling a small ball built into the bottle’s top, similar in mechanism to a roll-on deodorant or lip gloss applicator. The bottles were sold individually and in packs of three or 12, in four flavors distinguished by color: blue for blue raspberry, red for strawberry, green for green apple and pink for watermelon. Packaging carries the Ricky Joy logo, the words “EXTREME SOUR” and “SOUR CRUSH,” and an image of a green monster character, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It is that rolling ball, the same feature that makes the candy fun to dispense, that regulators say is the point of failure.
Why the Rolling Ball Is a Hazard
CPSC’s hazard description is direct: the rolling ball on the recalled bottles can detach, posing a risk of serious injury or death from choking. A small, smooth, round object is one of the higher-risk shapes for pediatric choking because it can form a complete seal in a child’s airway, unlike irregularly shaped debris that often leaves a gap for air to pass. Because the candy is explicitly marketed and packaged for children, and because the ball sits at the exact point of the bottle a child handles and mouths repeatedly while using the product, a detachment risk in that specific spot carries more weight than it might on an adult-oriented product with the same design flaw.
How Choking Hazards Are Defined for Kids’ Products
Federal toy safety rules use a specific tool called a small-parts cylinder to decide whether a piece is dangerous for young children: any part that fits completely inside the cylinder, which is built to approximate the fully expanded throat of a child under three years old, without folding or compressing is treated as a choking hazard for that age group. A candy product is not regulated as a toy in the same way, but the same physical logic applies to the rolling ball CPSC flagged in the Sour Crush bottles. Because the ball is small, rigid and shaped to move freely rather than stay fixed in place, a child who works it loose can end up holding an object with almost no chance of dislodging on its own if it becomes lodged in the airway. That is a meaningfully different risk than the sour liquid candy itself, which is a substance rather than a solid object and does not carry the same blockage risk once swallowed.
Where the Candy Was Sold
The recalled bottles reached an unusually wide retail footprint for a single product recall. They were sold at H-E-B, Forman Mill and other candy stores nationwide, as well as online at Walmart.com, CandyFunHouse.com, RickyJoy.com and other retailers, from January 2023 through May 2026. Single bottles sold for about $3, while multi-packs ranged from $13 to $32. The product was imported by International Trade Imports LLC, doing business as The Ricky Joy Company, based in Cumming, Georgia, and manufactured in Colombia. The three-and-a-half-year sales window is part of why the total unit count climbed past 2.3 million despite no injuries having surfaced during that period.
Retail placement matters here, too. Impulse candy displayed near a checkout lane gets far less scrutiny from a parent than a labeled toy purchased specifically from a toy aisle; a shopper grabbing a brightly colored candy bottle on the way out of a grocery store is unlikely to read fine print the way someone shopping for a child’s toy might. That dynamic, combined with a three-and-a-half-year sales run through both national grocery chains like H-E-B and specialty candy retailers, is why CPSC and the manufacturer are relying on public notice and media coverage to reach affected households rather than a retailer-specific recall list, the way a single-chain product recall might.
Returning the Recalled Bottles for a Refund
Consumers are advised to stop using the candy bottles immediately, keep them away from children, and contact The Ricky Joy Company for a refund. The company is providing a pre-paid shipping label so purchasers can return the product rather than simply discarding it, which also gives the company a way to track how much of the recalled inventory is actually being pulled from circulation. The Ricky Joy Company can also be reached toll-free by phone, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays, for consumers who prefer to confirm the return process before mailing anything back. Given how widely the product was distributed, through big-box retailers, regional grocery chains and independent candy stores alike, checking any opened or unopened stock at home against the four listed flavors is the most reliable way to confirm whether a purchase falls under the recall.
This article was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by an editor.
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