Parents of young children are being warned about the possible dangers of jelly mini-cup sweets, which have now been banned by the Food Standards Agency.

North Yorkshire County Council trading standards officers are concerned about the safety issues over the use of Konjac jelly in mini-cup sweets which can cause choking in young children.

And the ban on it has been extended to other types of gum jelly such as seaweed extract.

The problem with the mini-cups is that in order to eat them the container has to be squeezed. This in turn pops the jelly into the mouth. But in some cases it may directly block the child's windpipe and cause choking. In the USA it has had fatal consequences.

Trading standards officers are advising all smaller local or corner shops to check their stocks of sweets.

The executive member for trading standards, Carl Les, said: "The banning of these sweets at this stage is a precautionary measure while the European Food Safety Authority considers whether these sweets could cause choking as they have done when used with Konjac jelly.

"We are advising any parents to be aware of the possible choking hazards with these types of sweets."

If parents or businesses are at all concerned as to whether they have mini-cup jelly sweets they should contact the county council's trading standards service on (01609) 768642 /3/4.