The General Mills Company broke its silence after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is investigating Lucky Cereal after about 6,000 reports of stomach illnesses linked to it were posted on a website since last year.
The FDA also said that it has received around 100 of those reports. While an investigation is ongoing, neither General Mills nor the FDA has issued an alert advice or recall on the cereal product.
FDA investigation
The reports were from a consumer advocacy website, Iwaspoisoned.com, indicating that as of April 28, 2022, more than 6,400 people have reported getting sick after consuming the sugary cereal Lucky Charm of the General Mills Corporation.
The agency admitted that it does not know how widespread the issue is, but the reports it received also date back to as early last year.
As of April 18, a spokesperson for the FDA said that the reports are "isolated incidents" and "complaints of a less serious nature." These reports may also be used in future company inspections to help the FDA identify problems in a production plant.
General Mills Statement
The Minneapolis-based General Mills, Inc. said it is aware of the reports, and the company takes them seriously. However, its investigation has not found any evidence of consumer illnesses linked to Lucky Charms.
General Mills spokesperson Andrea Williamson said the reports from IWasPoisoned.com do not sound like they could "make the most watertight case."
The company had previously issued a recall of its flour product in September 2019 after its sampling discovered E.coli on five pounds of Gold Medal, unbleached, all-purpose flour. However, General Mills said that there were no confirmed cases of illness relating to the contamination.
Reports of Stomach-related illnesses
According to Futurism, the phenomenon has become so prevalent that it became a punchline on "Saturday Night Live." Common reports of Iwaspoisoned.com indicated stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and having blue/green colored poop. There were also reports of cases where those suffering from the symptoms had to seek medical treatment.
Patrick Quade, the founder of the site, said the reports come from all over the U.S. The product has received more illness reports than any other product in the site's ten-year history.
FDA said that it takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of food that causes illnesses or injury.
The official Lucky Charms Twitter account has also been filled with stomach illness reports. The company's account replies are a long string of messages which begins with "we are very sorry to hear about your experience," as per E!NewsOnline.
