The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it’s investigating Lucky Charms over dozens of complaints it’s received from customers who say they’ve gotten sick after eating the granola.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the FDA said it “takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of a food product that may also cause illness or injury.”
General Mills told the AP that no links have been found between good luck charms and illnesses in customers. The Minneapolis-based company said it encourages customers to contact them directly with any concerns.
Hundreds of people have complained of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting after eating the cereal to food safety website iwaspoisoned.com.
Reports were filed from across the country, with consumers from Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas complaining of illness.
Patrick Quade, the site’s founder, told The Wall Street Journal that the 3,000 reports it received on lucky charms this year are the most for any single product in its online decade. He added that most of the reports have been made in the last two weeks.
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According to the complaints, the symptoms started 30 minutes to a few hours after consuming Lucky Charms. One person said they tested their son for COVID-19 after he developed symptoms, before noticing he seemed to get sick after eating the cereal.
Last week, the FDA told USA Today that it was aware of the disease reports and was investigating them. The newspaper noted that direct complaints to the FDA regarding good luck charms have generally been rare, with only 41 since 2004 and three since last year.
One of the complaints received by the FDA since 2021 related to the complaints filed on iwaspoisoned.com.