Rotorua parents are outraged over lolly packaging they say could see children easily confuse them with dangerous medication.
Choco4 lollies come packaged in long sheet blister packs, similar to that of medicines, and Rotorua residents have shown their disgust of the packaging on Facebook, with some calling it irresponsible.
Rotorua mother Rachel Kinilau told The Daily Post she was shocked when she saw the Choco4 packaging.
"I can only describe them as tablet blister packs and a child would not know the difference between medicines and the lollies," she said.
Rotorua pharmacist Ian Edward from Pharmacy 44 said the lolly packaging did look like commercial medicine blister packs.
"It reinforces that medicines need to be stored safely and discreetly in the home," he said.
Age Concern Rotorua manager Hillary Thole also agreed with the outcry.
"There is a possibility that small children could become confused with the product and actual blister packed medication," she said.
Other people have taken to Facebook to express their disgust, with one person saying it was "Irresponsible and proof these so-called government bodies are seriously failing in their duty."
Another person said "... great way to encourage small kids to get into freaking medication. not impressed at all."
Other comments included "Totally designed like a pill packet ... My kids didn't even know how to open them until now ..." and "My mum was horrified, because she was collecting her prescription medication from the chemist next door, which comes blister packed into daily requirements. Very very similar to these lollies."
A local store owner that sold the lollies, who didn't want to be identified, said Choco4 did look like medicine blister packs and agreed with Ms Kinilau.
"They do look like medicines," he said.
However, as of yesterday he was still selling the lollies.
Hamilton-based importers and wholesalers of confectionery Bizline supplied the store owner with the Choco4 lolly.
Bizline business development manager Salman Abbas said he also thought the packaging looked like medicine blister packs.
"I agree, they do have similar packaging and they do look like Panadols but there are so many other products on the market like this. Wrigleys sells chewing gum that also have packaging that are similar to medicine blister packs, but no-one complains about them," he said.
Boxes of the Choco4 product also had stickers placed across the expired use-by date and Mr Abbas said they were selling the product to stores cheaply.
He claimed the products weren't expired but instead the expiry date was a misprint. He said they stopped importing Choco4 nine months ago but they were still available in stores.
Meanwhile, Ms Kinilau said she also had concerns about a YouTube video where children were eating Choco4 blister pack lollies.
"They were eating the lolly in such a way, it looks like how you would take tablets. Children don't eat lollies like this," she said.
Mr Abbas said he had spoken to Pakistani-based Hilal Confectionery, the company that produced Choco4, about the advertisements targeting children and even though the product was sold worldwide, they had no complaints.
The Hilal Confectionery mission statement said their products were to be accessible to all segments of the market and the company's focus was on high quality, food safety, nutritional value, and consumer appeal.
Hilal did not reply to emails, Facebook or Twitter posts.