A viral TikTok trend has led to the arrest of two Americans in Israel. They were stopped by customs officials at the Ben Gurion airport on May 1 trying to smuggle tens of thousands of fruit roll-ups into their luggage, The Washington Post reported. The sweet, flat and fruit-flavoured snack rolled into a tube has been popular in the US since 1983. They gained popularity on social media recently after a TikTok trend involving wrapping ice cream in the candy treat went viral.
The Israeli officials confiscated another batch of the sugary treat on May 4, taking the total amount seized to over 650 pounds, according to Times of Israel.
A video of May 1 crackdown shows a customs official sifting through at least three suitcases, each containing hundreds of fruit roll-ups. The man appears to explain in the video that he brought them for his family, as per the Post report.
Officials this month also found 10 mail shipments containing 350 pounds of the fruit confections being sent from the US to different addresses in Israel, according to Israeli news website Ynet.
Israel's tax authority found such huge quantities to be illegal "commercial shipments" and said they will be subject to taxes and other fees as well as approval by health officials.
What is the viral TikTok trend?
Today said in a report that viral trend on the video-sharing platform features users wrapping the roll-ups around ice cream. Some of them also use it with small burrito-type wraps.
The trend became famous early this year, but Americans are still buying up fruit roll-ups in droves. One of the originators of the trend was TikToker Golnar Ghavami, whose video from February has gotten more than 14 million views.
The craze has caused the demand to skyrocket so much in Israel that stores are selling the candies $5 to $6 each. In the US, customers can buy a 72-count box for $27 fetching a sweet profit for entrepreneurial Americans.
Israel's health ministry has warned against eating the snack, saying that it could lead to weight gain, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and dental caries.
