Picture WonkaA spin-off of global success Fantastic chocolate factoryWilly Wonka’s childhood opens in cinemas around the world this week. at UKThe film will be released on Friday, the 8th, but even before this date, some British stores already had “Wonka Chocolate” on their shelves – even though the product had not been produced for years, according to the British press.
On Monday the 4th, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the UK government agency for food safety, warned Britons not to buy “Wonka chocolates” because they were a fake brand. In a statement, the FSA highlighted that sweets may not be safe for consumption because they are likely to be “manufactured or repackaged by unregistered companies or criminals who do not comply with hygiene, labeling and traceability laws”.
“With Christmas approaching, don’t waste your money on fake brand chocolates for your children, friends or family – you don’t get what you think you’re paying for and you don’t know what’s in them. There could be a food safety risk, especially for those with food intolerances or allergies,” the FSA said. said Tina Potter, head of incidents.
It’s not the first time the British government has warned people about fake chocolates branded with the quirky character Willy Wonka. In April 2022, a few days ago Easter – another holiday where sweets are one of the main prizes – the FSA has issued another warning about the sale of fake chocolates with the Wonka slogan.
Before that, in 2013, a woman in Manchester, northwest England, bought a Wonka bar, and to her surprise, inside the packaging, as in the picture, was a golden ticket worthy of a visit to the chocolate factory. . When she tries to figure out how and when she can make such a visit, she discovers that the brand is fake, and so is the note.
Does the chocolate from the Wonka movie really exist?
The eccentric Willy Wonka’s chocolate brand was created in a fictional work, and until the first film was made, the bars did not exist in real life. The book that spawned the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryPublished by Roald Dahl to us in 1964 and adapted for film in 1971.
That’s when the bar came to life – at the time, the North American staple was Quaker Oats. According to a report from The New York Times In 2017, unlike the movie, real-life chocolates aren’t exactly a hit. The flaw in the candy formula was that it melted too quickly and the idea didn’t work out.
From there the brand went through ups and downs. Just as the Willy Wonka character has already come to life with different actors (Gene Wilder, in 1971, Johnny Depp, in 2005, and Timothée Chalamet, in 2023), the Wonka Chocolate Bar has already been owned by different companies.
Brand purchased Nestlé In 1988 and 1993 the company renamed it the Willy Wonka Candy Company. In 2005, the release of the second version of the film, directed Tim BurtonNestlé also carried out an advertising campaign similar to the fictional story – golden tickets, equivalent to prizes, were randomly placed in five chocolate bars.
Over the years, the candy was introduced in various flavors and packaging and sold in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Australia. The brand was discontinued by Nestlé in 2014 and sold to an Italian company in 2018. FerreroShe still has.
required by Estado Ferrero did not respond to inquiries as to whether there were still Wonka bars in production. According to British press, it’s hard to find any of the brand’s sweets currently on sale. However, online stores such as Amazon have replicas of the packaging and Golden Ticket – even if they bear the name “Wonka”, you are not entitled to visit the “Awesome Chocolate Factory”.
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