Hershey’s black-licorice Twizzlers and Good & Plenty could be harmful to your health, suit claims

Halloween is right around the corner. But parents looking forward to raiding their kids’ candy bags might want to stay away from black licorice Twizzlers and Good & Plenty, based on the claims of an ongoing lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed in central Pennsylvania says those treats may be dangerous for candy lovers over the age of 40 because of a sweetener made of licorice root.

It’s called glycyrrhizin and when consumed in large quantities, it can lead to abnormal heart rhythms, edema, high blood pressure, lethargy or congestive heart failure, the suit says. The compound also can cause potassium levels in the body to drop. The suit claims that Hershey Co., which owns the brands, should have placed warning labels on the packaging.

U.S. District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, who sits in Harrisburg, in July denied a request by Hershey to dismiss the suit.

Hershey spokesman Todd M. Scott said on Tuesday that the company’s products are safe and comply with federal rules.

“We don’t comment on pending litigation, but I can share that all of our products are safe to eat and formulated in full compliance with [Food and Drug Administration] regulations, including the agency’s regulation affirming the safety of licorice extract for use in food,” Scott said. “All foods, including confectionery, should be enjoyed in moderation and as part of a complete and balanced diet.”

Hershey says that glycyrrhizin is “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA and it doesn’t have to place special labels on the products. The FDA reviewed the safety in the mid-1970s, Hershey says in court documents.

“It defies logic to suggest that either Twizzlers or Good & Plenty candies are defective or unreasonably dangerous when it is undisputed that the products contain no more than the FDA approved amount of an ingredient the FDA has considered, evaluated and found to be [generally recognized as safe],” Hershey says in court documents.

Twizzlers and Good & Plenty are two of Hershey’s non-chocolate brands. The Pennsylvania company reported $9 billion in revenue and $1.5 billion in net income in 2021.

The suit says the FDA has issued a warning that eating two ounces of black licorice a day for at least two weeks could cause heart conditions for people over 40 years old.

Researchers at Chicago’s Mercy Hospital and Medical Center published a review in 2013 citing medical studies dating to the 1970s on the dangers that black licorice posed to the cardiovascular system, the suit also says.

And, it says, a 2015 case study published in Pediatric Neurology looked at a 10-year-old boy who suffered seizures after eating black licorice products. The publication recommended that black licorice candy-makers list a daily limit or warning on the packaging, the suit said.

The suit was filed in July 2021 on behalf of four people, three women and a man. The lawyers filing the suit are Walter T. Grabowski in Scranton and Jonathan E. Neuman from New York, court documents show. Grabowski referred questions to Neuman, who did not immediately provide comment on Wednesday. The suit seeks more than $75,000 for negligence and product liability.