MP speaks out - and pigs fly at Easter

By ALAN PERROTT

All that's needed to make pigs fly is a little political hot air.

That's one conclusion that can be drawn from the result of Green MP Sue Kedgley's objection to the 1kg "What-a-Pig" chocolate Easter eggs sold by The Warehouse chain.

Of eight suburban Auckland stores contacted by the Herald yesterday, only the Glenfield Warehouse had any of the monster eggs left, and they were selling quickly.

Warehouse stores at Pakuranga, Mt Wellington, Milford, Birkenhead, Auckland Airport, Henderson and Manukau City had bare shelves where the eggs once sat.

Ms Kedgley was not surprised at the outcome, but hoped the city was not full of children sick from eating the fat-laden chocolate too quickly.

Last week, she criticised the egg's packaging, which carried a "Pig-o-meter" time scale exhorting children to eat the contents within 15 minutes.

By doing so they would achieve 'legendary' status; failure meant the challenger was a 'nerd, wimp or loser'.

"It's irresponsible obesity training, gorging yourself with chocolate, making yourself sick from it," Ms Kedgley said yesterday.

The nutritional information on the box said that each 1kg egg contained 304g of fat and 586g of sugar, providing 5384 calories - which Ms Kedgley said was four times the recommended daily intake.