The FDA is investigating the possible link between good luck charms and disease

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Food and Drug Administration officials said they are reviewing reports from more than 100 consumers who told the agency that they recently became ill after eating Lucky Charms cereal.

The reports come after thousands of people complained to a consumer website, saying they experienced nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after consuming the good luck charms.

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“The agency is currently reviewing and investigating these reports,” said an FDA spokeswoman.

General Mills Inc., which makes the grain, said it is working with the FDA on the matter. The company said it conducted a thorough internal investigation that found no evidence of any disease linked to the consumption of good luck charms. “We encourage consumers to share their concerns directly with General Mills,” said a spokeswoman.

FILE – Boxes of General Mills’ Lucky Charms cereal are seen on a shelf at a Costco warehouse in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania on Thursday, May 14, 2020. On Saturday, April 16, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it was investigating Lucky Cha ((AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) / AP Newsroom)

General Mills and the FDA have not recalled the cereal, which is one of the company’s top brands.

“The FDA takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of a food product, which may also cause illness or injury,” the FDA spokeswoman said.

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It’s rare for people to get sick from eating breakfast cereal because baking muesli usually kills pathogens, food safety experts said. Muesli can become contaminated after baking, for example when the puffs are coated with a sugary glaze or when they are packaged.

Patrick Quade, founder of consumer website iwaspoisoned.com, said that so far this year his website has received nearly 2,500 reports from people across the country who said they got sick shortly after eating good luck charms. The vast majority of the reports came in in the last two weeks, and they are the most complaints the decades-old site has ever received for a single product, he said.

General Mills is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded grocery products sold through retail outlets. REUTERS/Jim Young

Consumer reports of ailments linked to good luck charms to the FDA have skyrocketed in the past week after news articles from the New York Post and USA Today about the complaints on Mr. Quade’s website.

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Some consumers who reported their illnesses on Mr. Quade’s website and the FDA told Mr. Quade that the FDA had contacted them about testing their grain, he said. The FDA declined to comment.

FDA headquarters in Washington DC. (iStock / iStock)

Kristin Johnson, who lives in Lexington, Kentucky, said she fed her two-year-old daughter lucky charms about a week ago, and her daughter got sick for a few days. “When she felt better I gave her lucky charms because I thought she would eat that because it’s her favorite treat. And she got sick again,” Ms Johnson said.

General Mills declined further comment.

In recent years, consumer advocacy groups have called the FDA slow to respond to foodborne outbreaks. The FDA last month received complaints from Consumer Reports, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and other organizations about how it was handling a contaminated infant formula recall earlier this year after two babies died.

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The FDA has said it cannot comment on the timing of the infant formula recall, but will conduct a review once the investigation into the outbreak is complete. In December, the agency announced that it had expanded its rapid response team to resolve outbreaks faster.

In 2018, at least 135 people in 36 states contracted a salmonella outbreak linked to Kellogg Co.’s Honey Smacks cereal. A food watchdog investigation found the factory that Kellogg hired to make Honey Smacks had unsanitary conditions. Regulators said the factory’s owners, Wisconsin-based Kerry Inc., found salmonella on production lines and in a grain coating room. At the time, Kellogg said it had stopped contracts with that factory to make its grain, and Kerry said it had improved equipment hygiene and improved training.

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Grain can also be contaminated through packaging. In 2010, Kellogg recalled 28 million boxes of Froot Loops and other brands after consumers complained about the taste and smell, and some people said they felt nauseous after eating them. Kellogg said it found the problem to be elevated levels of a food packaging substance in the liners of cereal boxes.

write to Annie Gasparro at [email protected]