Pocky maker Glico recalls six million units across 20 different product types.

Pocky is one of Japan’s all-time favorite snacks. The chocolate-covered biscuit sticks are loved by sweets fans both young and old, and their ubiquitous presence on store shelves and affordable price means that pretty much everyone in Japan is deeply familiar with what Pocky tastes like, so palates have been puzzled with a recent development.

Starting around the middle of October, a large number of Pocky buyers in Japan have been reporting that it tastes…different. It’s not that the candy had gotten old, as the observation was made by people munching on Pocky well ahead of its expiration date, and the flavor wasn’t stale or rotten, just somehow off in a way that didn’t have a unified description from those who’d encountered it.

It was a strange situation, since even if Pocky maker Glico had been bold enough to try tampering with perfection, marketing teams usually try to trumpet tweaks to long-standing recipes as exciting improvements, like Asahi did when it updated the recipe for its best-selling Super Dry beer for the brand’s 35th birthday. There wouldn’t be any fanfare, though, if Glico had simply switched to using cheaper ingredients, or a larger ratio of less-expensive ones within the Pocky recipe, in order to cut costs.

However, it turns out that Glico has made no changes at all to the Pocky recipe. People reporting that their Pocky tasted funny weren’t imagining things either, though. After hearing about the off-tasting snacks, Glico launched an investigation into the matter and determined that the cocoa beans used to produce Pocky’s chocolate coating had been stored in an external logistics company’s warehouse for eight months. That amount of time itself isn’t an issue, as cocoa beans can be kept that long without losing their flavor or suffering other freshness-related issues. Keeping cocoa beans in a warehouse for eight months does become a problem, though, when they’re being stored in close proximity to aromatic spices.

Specifically, the cocoa beans had been kept close to the warehouse’s inventories of cumin and cloves, neither one of which is known for having a bouquet that meshes well with the sort of straightforward sweetness which is Pocky’s main selling point. The ingredients had been stored close enough to each other that the scents of the cumin and cloves managed to attach themselves to the cocoa beans before they were shipped to Glico’s factories, and once the beans were put into the production process, the olfactory effects of the cumin and cloves were carried through to the final product, influencing its flavor and producing the off-the-mark taste that Pocky customers have been reporting.

▼ Among the products affected is Fuyu no Kuchidoke Pocky, a cocoa poweder-dusted version that’s especially popular in winter months.

In a statement on the matter, released this week, Glico says that the unusual-tasting Pocky is perfectly fine for consumption, and poses no health risks to those who eat it. However, while “cumin clove chocolate” does kind of sound like the sort of thing you might find at a froufrou Ginza chocolatier (the staff would be heartbroken to hear you call it a “chocolate shop”) charging exorbitant prices for its creative confectionaries, Glico understands that when it comes to Pocky, people want it to taste like, well, Pocky, which the affected items do not. Because of that, it’s issued a voluntary recall for roughly six million units of a total of 20 different chocolate products it makes, including some non-Pocky ones too.

1. Pocky Chocolate (expiration dates 2026.5～8, 2026.9 if “SS” follows slash, Jan product code 4901005009158)
2. Pocky Gokusobu (2026.5～8, 2026.9 if “SS” follows slash, JAN 4901005009134)
3. Pocky Chocolate (8-pouch pack) ((2026.5～8, 2026.9 if “SS” follows slash, JAN 4901005010017)
4. Business-use Pocky Chocolate (2026.5～8, 2026.9 if second-row code starts with SS, JAN 4901005009172)
5. Pocky Chocolate Prize Version (expiration dates 2026.5～8, 2026.9 if “SS” follows slash, JAN 4901005009196)
6. Sales Promotion Pocky Chocolate (expiration dates 2026.5～8, 2026.9 if “SS” follows slash, no JAN Code)
7. Fuyu no Kuchidoke Pocky (expiration dates 2026.6～8, JAN 4901005010529)
8 Fuyu no Kuchidoke Pocky (irregular items) (expiration dates 2026.6～9, JAN 4901005186965)
9. Giant Pocky (expiration dates 2026.7～8, JAN 4901005512733)
10. Giant Dream Pocky (expiration dates 2026.8～9, JAN 4901005565876)
11. Pocky Megami no Ruby (expiration date 2026.8, JAN 4901005512757)
12. Pocky Otona no Kohaku (expiration date 2026.8, JAN 4901005512740)
13. Kobe Roast Chocolat Hojun Cacao (expiration dates 2026.5～9, JAN 4901005004788)
14. Kobe Roast Chocolat Gaufre (expiration dates 2026.7～8, JAN 4901005004771 and 4901005008151)
15. Mental Balance Chocolate Gaba (expiration dates 2026.7～8, JAN 4901005109803)
16. Mental Balance Chocolate Gaba Milk (expiration dates 2026.7～8, JAN 4901005109797)
17. Mental Balance Chocolate Gaba Milk (small pouch) (expiration dates 2026.7～9, JAN 49660272)
18. Mental Balance Chocolate Gaba Milk Reduced-sweetness Bitter (expiration dates 2026.6～8, JAN 4901005501942)
19. Liberia (Bitter) (expiration dates 2026.8～10, JAN 4901005500655)
20. Liberia (Milk) (expiration dates 2026.8～10, JAN 4901005500068)

▼ Mercifully, no boxes of matcha Pocky appear to make use of the improperly stored cocoa beans.

Though Pocky has gained considerable popularity overseas, the recall appears to be only for Pocky and other products meant for sale within Japan. However, with some specialty stores in other countries importing JDM (Japanese domestic market) Pocky, there’s a chance some of the affected snacks have made their way across the oceans as well.

In its statement, Glico apologizes for the situation and says it will be strengthening its supply chain quality control methods to prevent such a thing from happening again. To repeat, the recalled snacks aren’t dangerous to eat, so he recall is more of a customer satisfaction move than a health and safety one, but if you’ve got one of the affected items and would like a replacement, the online form to apply for one can be found here.

Source: Glico, TBS News Dig
Top image: PR Times
Insert image: Glico, PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!