TEMPE, AZ—Staff at a Tempe daycare say a growing number of toddlers who refuse to eat broccoli have been found behind the building's sandbox with blue razz disposable vapes, a discovery the facility's director described Wednesday as "upsetting, but honestly not surprising, given the flavor."
"We found eleven of them behind the sandbox. All blue razz," said Carol Pruitt, 61, director of Little Acorns Early Learning, holding up a clear zip bag of the devices outside the building's front door. "The broccoli was untouched." Pruitt said the vapes were found during a routine sandbox sweep, alongside two juice boxes and a single steamed floret "that no one had even tried to hide."
The products, sold in candy-colored disposable shells under names like blue razz ice, gummy bear, cotton candy and unicorn milk, have drawn years of criticism from pediatricians and federal regulators, who have repeatedly warned that the flavors and packaging appeal to children. Manufacturers have long maintained that their products are marketed exclusively to adults.
"Our products are strictly for adults," said Brent Kaslow, a spokesman for the vape brand Cloud Buddy, standing in the parking lot of the vape shop that shares a wall with the daycare. "Adults who enjoy gummy bear, cotton candy, and unicorn milk." Kaslow said the shop's location, roughly 40 feet from the daycare's front door, was "a coincidence," and that the blue raspberry bouncy castle being inflated in the lot behind him was "for a different event."
Child nutrition experts say the trend fits what is already known about the toddler palate, which strongly prefers sweet flavors over bitter ones. "Broccoli is bitter, green, and has no mascot," said one pediatric dietitian, who asked not to be named. "Blue raspberry is not a fruit. It is a color that tastes like a birthday. A three-year-old is not equipped to win that fight."
Parents in the afternoon pickup line said the effects had followed their children home.
"We found one in his juice box," said Derek Holm, 42, leaning out of the window of his minivan. "He's three. He says it helps with his anxiety." Holm said his son's anxiety began "around the time he found out about bedtime."
"He won't eat anything that isn't blue," said Tanya Brooks, 34, a nurse, still in her scrubs. "We painted the broccoli. He knew." Brooks said the family has since tried blue mashed potatoes, blue chicken and "a blue egg, which was a mistake," and that her son ate none of them, "because none of them were razz."
Some longtime residents were less alarmed. "In my day we had candy cigarettes," said Lorraine Vick, 74, waiting outside the playground fence for her grandson. "At least we knew it was candy."
The daycare has since moved its sandbox indoors, banned all blue snacks, and begun serving broccoli "with a little dip, as a gesture of good faith." A man in a hazmat suit was seen sweeping the empty sandbox with a metal detector Wednesday afternoon. Pruitt said he was not affiliated with the daycare, and that no one had asked him to come.
At press time, Kaslow had leaned into the camera, asked any children watching to cover their ears, waited several seconds, and then asked who in the audience liked gummy bears.
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