Tiny, vividly colored plastic bottles with a ball applicator on top that rolls out a sour liquid when you tilt the bottle and press the ball to your tongue. Children adore them. They are inexpensive, shareable, and available in watermelon and blue raspberry flavors. They have been a pantry mainstay for many families since 2023.
The Ricky Joy Company is recalling about 2.3 million of its Sour Crush Rolling Liquid Candy Bottles, according to a September 10, 2026, announcement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The specific mechanical cause is that the bottle’s plastic rolling ball may come loose while being used, posing a choking hazard. So far, no injuries have been reported. However, the agency uses strong language in its notice, warning of “a risk of serious injury or death.”
The four flavors of the recalled bottles—blue raspberry, strawberry, green apple, and watermelon—each matched the color of the bottle and contained 1.85 fluid ounces of sour liquid candy. The words “EXTREME SOUR” and “SOUR CRUSH” are accompanied by a cartoon green monster on the front label, making them fairly easy to recognize on a shelf or in a school bag. They were offered in three-packs for about $3, individually for about $3, and in twelve-packs for between $13 and $32.
In addition to online sales via Walmart.com, CandyFunHouse.com, and RickyJoy.com, retail locations included H-E-B, Forman Mills, and candy stores across the nation. Cumming, Georgia-based International Trade Imports LLC, doing business as Ricky Joy, imported the candy, which was produced in Colombia.
The context of this recall is what makes it important to focus on. A federal safety notice has previously been issued regarding rolling liquid candies. Following reports of the applicator ball detaching, Candy Dynamics recalled about 70 million Slime Licker Sour Rolling Liquid Candies in October 2023. It was a big recall.
However, a much smaller and much more sobering recall of roughly 145,800 Cocco Candy units was announced that same day. It was brought about by a report that a 7-year-old girl in New York had choked and died in April 2023 after the rolling ball on a similar product dislodged and became lodged in her throat. According to the CPSC, it poses “a fatal choking risk.” When compared side by side, those two recalls provided a clear picture of the point at which this kind of product design fails. That story might not have received enough attention.
The Ricky Joy Sour Crush bottles were available for purchase from January 2023 to May 2026, which means that they were on store shelves and in online carts for more than a year after the federal government became aware of the rolling candy recalls.
It’s still unclear how the recall decision was made or when the flaw in this particular product was discovered. That timeline is not explained in the CPSC notice, and aside from the recall registration page on its website, Ricky Joy has not released a comprehensive public statement.
The practical steps are simple for parents. Look in car cup holders, kitchen drawers, backpacks, and other places where children frequently store snacks. Regardless of whether the ball seems securely attached, any bottle that fits the description—1.85 ounces, rollerball top, green monster label, one of the four flavors—should be removed from children right away. To set up a refund, call the Ricky Joy Company at 404-975-0352 during business hours. For returns, the business offers a pre-paid shipping label.
Observing this development, it seems that novelty candy in particular has a tendency to spread quickly through supply chains and social media discovery, reaching kids in ways that surpass safety awareness.
Holiday stockings, party favor bags, and classroom trades are just a few examples of how a product can travel far from its original point of sale and end up in the hands of a child whose parent never saw the packaging. As this recall spreads, it’s important to remember that. It’s not the candy per se. What matters in this situation is the tiny, smooth ball that sits inside a child’s mouth each time they use it.
