DUBAI — The medical syringes containing chocolate that caused concerns among Dubai health officials are being made by teenagers in their homes, UAE newspaper The National reported on Wednesday, citing a trader.



“I don’t make the needles, I only had 30 pieces which I sold and I’m not getting anymore,” the newspaper quoted a post by 18-year-old Salem Mohammed Al Muhairi on the social media network Dubai Moon’s Souq pages.



“A lot of people have been doing this, the ads are all over the net and BlackBerry, we are not the only ones. My cousins just wanted to make some money since people really liked the idea and there is a huge appeal for the product,” he told the newspaper.



Al Muhairi said he only sold them to his family and claimed the production had been carried out by his cousin, the newspaper added.



“I get them from my cousin who has a sterile room in his house, I don’t know where he gets the needles from,” he said.



And he told the paper the syringes had been sold without a needle, contrary to what images advertising the product seemed to show.



On Monday, UAE press reported that Dubai Municipality had issued warnings against the chocolate-filled needles that were being marketed as Nutella novelty products.



“The needles are not clean or sanitised and might be used in hospitals to take blood or inject medicine,” said Khalid Sherif, the director of the Food Control Department at Dubai Municipality.



“We strongly advise the public to purchase food products from authorised establishments only as they get approval for all food items,” the report said. – Agencies