The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has opened an investigation into popular breakfast cereal Lucky Charms after receiving “dozens” of complaints regarding potentially tainted batches of the General Mills product. An FDA spokesperson told CBS News Saturday that they had received over 100 complaints of nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting after consuming the product.
According to an FDA statement, “The FDA takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of a food that may also cause illnesses or injury.”
General Mills insists that its product is not responsible for the illnesses based on its on investigation.
A spokesperson for General Mills told CBS News that it was aware of the FDA investigation, but claimed that its own investigation had found no evidence of consumer illness related to Lucky Charms. In a longer statement provided to Business insider, spokeswoman Andrea Williamson said, “Food safety is our top priority. We take the consumer concerns reported via a third-party website very seriously. After a thorough internal investigation, we have not found any evidence that these complaints are attributed to our products. We encourage consumers to please share any concerns directly with General Mills to ensure they can be appropriately addressed.”
Reports regarding the issues with Lucky Charms began to pop up in December of 2021 on the website IWasPoisoned.com, according to NBC News. The site claims that over 1,000 people have made reports of “stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and colorful stools after they or their children consumed the sugary cereal.”
The pace of complaints picked up after the claims were mentioned by Saturday Night Live Weekend Update hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost last weekend.
The FDA has not issued a recall of the cereal, and it remains entirely possible that the norovirus, which is making the rounds in the United States, is independently responsible for the outbreaks. The FDA advises consumers who have concerns about any potentially adulterated food product to alert the FDA and, if practicable, to keep a portion of the unused food product so that it can be appropriately tested for contamination.