Enlarge / A bowl of General Mills Lucky Charms cereal.
The end of the rainbow may not have a pot of gold – but a pot of something else entirely.
Thousands of people have reported stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after eating Lucky Charms, the “magically delicious” sugar-coated granola fronted by a cartoon leprechaun weakly trying to stop hungry children from eating his colorful to get magic-shaped marshmallows. The diseases have left many wondering if the latest set of spells includes hearts, stars, horseshoes, shamrocks and tasty contagious bacteria.
The website iwaspoisoned.com, which collects consumer reports on foodborne illnesses, has received more than 3,000 complaints about the cereal from across the US, most of them in the last few weeks. According to Patrick Quade, the site’s founder, who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, Lucky Charms has now received more disease reports than any other single product in the site’s 10-year history.
In statements to the press, the Food and Drug Administration said it had received more than 100 reports of the disease through its own reporting system and was investigating. “The FDA takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of a food item that may also cause illness or injury,” the regulator said.
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General Mills, which makes Lucky Charms, told reporters it heard the reports but found no evidence its grain causes disease. “Food safety is our top priority,” a New York Times spokesman said. “We encourage consumers to share any concerns directly with General Mills to ensure they can be addressed appropriately.”
Meanwhile, Lucky Charms’ official Twitter account has been inundated with stomach upsets. The account’s responses consist of a long string of messages that begin with “We’re very sorry to hear about your experience.”
The report reflected General Mills’ comments, tweet: “Food safety is our top priority. We are aware of the concerns about a third party website and we take these reports seriously. We investigated and found no evidence that these complaints are attributed to our products.”
This isn’t the first time children of all ages have rushed people of all ages to the bathroom — or, in some cases, the hospital. In 2018, Kellogg’s Honey Smacks sweetened puffed wheat flakes sickened 135 people and sent 34 to the hospital in 36 states. An FDA investigation found that a Wisconsin plant that produces the grain was riddled with salmonella, which was detected in more than 100 samples taken from the production lines, grain coating rooms and other areas of the facility. The FDA noted that salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain in healthy people, while it can cause more serious illnesses in children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.
Also in 2018, PepsiCo recalled a small batch of Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch due to possible salmonella contamination, although there were no reports of related illnesses.