Extreme Cleanse

On the trip to the outlet malls last week and a stop at Harry and David’s, I bought 2 bags of “Sugar-Free Caramel Balls,” a treat I could enjoy without worrying so much about too much sugar. On the front label, it warns the buyer that this is not a low calorie food and to see the nutritional information for saturated fat content (6 grams). I checked out the nutrition facts, but didn’t see anything alarming until yesterday.

Last week, I had diarrhea so badly over the course of 3 days that I was wondering if I needed to see my doctor and be checked for colon cancer. I had to stay in the house, close to a toilet, and even then had some close calls. All my energy drained out my big toes and I felt like I had been put through a ringer. Tried to figure out a cause, but couldn’t think of anything I had eaten that would cause such a virulent reaction.

The other day, I opened bag 2 of the caramel balls and had a handful. I had no idea why the sudden diarrhea hit me again, but after spending some quality time on the toilet, the thought struck me: I had eaten caramel balls.

Nah, no way a candy could hit my digestive tract that harshly, right? Wrong. There is a warning on the bag back label that I completely missed: “Excess use may have a laxative effect.” No clue as to what excess use is, but I now know that a handful of the caramel balls triggers a reaction so much bigger than the consumption of the product.

This is a first for me: I can honestly say that I have never encountered a product with the “laxative effect” warning before. The rest of bag 2 of the caramels is in the trash as no candy craving is worth the reaction I’ve had from eating this candy. As much as I love candy in general, and caramel in particular, it’s going to be a while before I’m going to be able to even think about eating chocolate or caramel anything!