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Associated PressNo one noticed what kind of toy was going into bags of candy until two customers complained.
MIAMI - A wholesaler is recalling about 14,000 bags of candy because some of them contain a Chinese-made toy that shows a plane flying into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
Luis Padron, national sales manager for Lisy Corp., said Friday the company distributes authentic Mexican candy in bags and puts a small toy in each bag. The toys were purchased in bulk from a Miami import company, and Padron said his company had not noticed what the small plastic figurines depicted until someone complained.
There is no mistake what the toy represents: At the bottom of each is the product number 9011.
"When we found out what happened, we recalled them immediately," said Padron, who said the offensive toys made in China do not reflect his company's view.
"I was offended by them. I am an American. Whoever made these are not on the same page as mine," he said.
The candy bags were distributed by the company's 100 distributors. Most are sold to small Hispanic and Mexican groceries, Padron said. He said 448 of the Twin Tower toys left the warehouse for distribution, but he managed to put a hold on the rest.
An Orlando grandmother, Anna Rodriguez, told television station WFTV that she was stunned when she saw the toy in the bag of candy she bought for her grandson.
"It makes me angry," she said. "I was offended because I couldn't believe that someone would give something like that to a kid."
Padron said his company had two complaints, the other from someone in Boston.
The toys came in an assortment purchased sight unseen from L&M Import in Miami and included the 9/11 toys, whistles and other small play things, Padron said. The invoice said the toy was a plastic swing set. A woman who answered the telephone Friday at L&M refused to give her name and said she didn't know anything about the toy.
Padron said he is saving the toys to return to the distributor.
"I hate to blame the importer. He probably did not know what he was getting. He brings them in 40-foot containers. But whoever made it knew exactly what they were making," he said.