The sweet was a favourite among British schoolboys in the first half of the twentieth century; author Roald Dahl, who wrote about a jar of gobstoppers featuring in the prank he played in his local sweet shop in 1924, also referred to them in his fictional Everlasting Gobstopper which was featured in his 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Gobstoppers are made by slowly depositing layers onto a core, such as a pressed ball of sugar, a single seed of anise or a gumball.

The sweets take several weeks to manufacture, as the process of adding liquid sugar is repeated multiple times.

[2] A jar of gobstoppers featured in the prank Dahl played on the owner of his local sweet shop in 1924, which he recorded in his autobiography Boy: Tales of Childhood.

Diggs and several other alleged victims' families filed lawsuits against Nestlé for medical bills resulting from plastic surgery as well as pain and suffering; the matters were later settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.