Americans caught smuggling 375 pounds of Fruit Roll-Ups into Israel. TikTok is blamed

Authored by news.yahoo.com and submitted by ChickenXing

Israel officials found a strangely sweet surprise in an American tourist’s suitcase this week.

Security at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv unzipped an American couple’s suitcases that were bursting with 375 pounds of Fruit Roll-Ups on May 2, a video shared by Mako, an Israeli news outlet, shows.

It wasn’t the first time Americans have been caught sneaking cavity-inducing amounts of Fruit Roll-Ups into Israel this week. In fact, it wasn’t even the first time in the same week, the Times of Israel reported. About 661 pounds of fruit-rolls ups were confiscated within one week at the airport, according to the outlet.

Times of Israel reporter Amy Spiro shared the video of security uncovering heaps of Fruit Roll-Ups in traveler’s suitcases on Twitter.

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A total of 661 pounds of Fruit Roll-Ups have been seized by the airport authorities in the past week, Times of Israel reported.

According to the Israeli customs and import guidelines, visitors can bring “up to 15 kilograms of food products in a shipment, but no more than 5 kilograms of a specific product.”

Additionally, visitors may only bring in items that total less than $200 to Israel, USA Today Travel Tips reports.

What’s causing the fruit roll-up craze? Israeli authorities blame TikTok.

Who hasn’t heard about this candy and seen viral videos of him wrapping ice cream, burning and flooding the social networks, the Israeli Ministry of Health wrote on its Facebook page on May 3, referencing TikTok’s latest Fruit Roll-up viral snack-hack that has millions in a chokehold.

Droves of TikTok creators shared videos of them trying out the latest snack innovation — ice cream inside a fruit roll-up in a type of dumpling shape. According to testers, the cold ice cream hardens the fruit roll-up, making for a delicious treat.

Videos of the hack have gotten two, five, ten and 14 million views on dozens of accounts and has surged in popularity in Israel.

“Tooth decay speedrun,” one person joked on a viral video.

They aren’t entirely wrong, though — and that’s one of the Israel Ministry of Health’s concerns. It shared the risks of eating high-sugar treats like this one on Facebook in the hopes of warding off more Israelis from indulging too much on it.

Remember: Just because it is photographed well, raises buzz and chatted online — doesn’t mean it’s healthy for you and your children, the Israeli Ministry of Health said on Facebook.

The high sugar hasn’t deterred Israelis yet, and one mother even told Mako that the treat was so scarce in the country that she realized it is sold like in drug deals.

The popularity of the fruit roll-up hack has also caused the prices to skyrocket, according to the Israel Ministry of Health.

My children were addicted, another Israeli told Mako. We went to the grocery store to buy and they wanted to sell us 10 units for 35 (Israeli Shekel), it’s crazy.

For reference, 35 Israeli Shekel is equivalent to about 10 U.S. dollars. A box of 10 Fruit Roll-Ups cost $2.99 online at Target in the U.S.

The Israeli government is encouraging citizens to save their money on inflated fruit roll ups and try a healthier cucumber option instead.

Some information included in this article was translated using Google Translate.

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Ok_Storm_8533 on May 6th, 2023 at 02:36 UTC »

What happed to just smuggling cocaine?

Accomplished_Row_670 on May 6th, 2023 at 01:23 UTC »

You guys getting the same tik toks as me? You wrap the roll up around a certain body part during certain activities. Israelis wanna get their flavourful BJs on.

BirdieshooterinMX on May 6th, 2023 at 00:22 UTC »

“With a street value of $100 million”