The move follows the near choking of a two-year-old in Chumphon last week.

The ban specifically targets novelty confectionery using lights. Selling these items is now illegal.

The FDA appealed to consumers to alert it to the availability of such sweets and asked them to "call our 1556 hotline if you see lollipops with flashlights at any shop".

FDA secretary-general Dr Pakdee Pothisiri yesterday threatened to prosecute anyone caught selling the illuminated lollipops.

He explained the FDA rejected an import application for this item back in 2004.

It ruled then that the lollipops constituted a danger to young children.

Last Thursday two-year-old Nathanont Boontin was rushed to a Chumphon hospital by her parents after one of the illuminated lollipops became lodged in her throat.

Doctors discovered metallic material used in the sweet was lighting up in her stomach and had to remove it. Earlier this year, a 12-year-old girl swallowed the illuminating parts of a lollipop and was hospitalised.

Pakdee yesterday warned people not to buy any confectionery item that did not carry labelling in the Thai language. Goods without labels in Thai had not been approved by FDA quality and safety tests, he said.

"We often find illegally imported candies and gums have too much colour additive," he said.

He took the opportunity to warn parents to control children's consumption of sweets and snacks. Obesity was the cause of health problems like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and elevated lipids in the bloodstream, such as cholesterol, he said.