Gel ball toy that looks like candy lands toddler in hospital

The colorful, gel-filled objects, called Crystal Balls, can reach 10 times their size when they come in contact with liquid.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
THIS PACKAGE of gel toy balls can be dangerously mistaken by small children as candy. (photo credit: Courtesy)
THIS PACKAGE of gel toy balls can be dangerously mistaken by small children as candy.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
 A two-year-old boy from Bnei Brak was saved at Schneider Children’s Medical Center on Tuesday after swallowing colored balls that he thought were candy.
The colorful, gel-filled objects, called Crystal Balls, can reach 10 times their size when they come in contact with liquid. He was taken to the emergency room of the Petah Tikva hospital by the mother, who tasted a ball herself and realized they were a toy and not food.
Dr. Omer Niv, a senior physician in the emergency department, spoke to the National Poison Control Center in Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center to check whether the product was poisonous.
After being told it was not, but that the gel could cause a blockage in the intestines, the child was brought to the gastroenterology department for a gastroscopy examination, with an endoscope, of his stomach and intestines.
When they saw that the gel balls were no longer in his stomach, they kept him under supervision until they were excreted. The boy was discharged in good condition and send home.
Dr. Irit Krauze of the pediatrics C department said that she was happy the incident ended without surgery, but warned parents to be alert to toys that look like food, adding it is better not to purchase such objects.