Little things signal a nice start to the day. Not a terrible alarm sound is one. No urgent emails in your inbox is another. And a mouthful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with a glass of almond milk is the last thing assuring you that no matter what, you’re going to be fine.
Except for the comedian Jensen Karp, for whom that mouthful, or rather the whole bowl, turned into a gross ordeal. Not only did he find shrimp tails, there was some dental floss and unidentifiable black things baked into the cereal bites.
Jensen tweeted his unwelcome surprise and it blew up all over Twitter, amassing 128.9K likes and counting. The General Mills company then responded to his tweets saying it must be an accumulation of cinnamon sugar and that cross-contamination with shrimp was not plausible.
Neither Jensen, nor Twitter was buying a single bit of it. Thanks to the power of the internet, these lost and found dehydrated pieces of crustacean shell coated in cinnamon and sugar were turned into hilarious reaction jokes and memes.
Jensen Karp, a comedian from L.A., spotted shrimp tails covered in cinnamon and sugar in his cereal and shared this pic on Twitter
Image credits: JensenKarp
The LA-based writer-producer-podcaster Jensen Karp could have never imagined his breakfast would turn quite literally fishy after he poured himself Cinnamon Toast Crunch from a family pack from a local Costco.
Image credits: JensenKarp
Image credits: JensenKarp
Jensen said that he had a whole bowl of it after realizing there was what appeared to be shrimp tails covered in cinnamon and sugar. But that wasn’t all. Lurking at the very bottom of the plastic bag were some more unwelcome surprises, like a piece of string, “weird cinnamon-covered pea thing,” and “black things.”
Another unopened bag of the same Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal Jensen had at home was then inspected by his wife. To their horror, it also contained an odd object which looked like dental floss.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch replied to Jensen saying the suspicious bits are due to the accumulation of the cinnamon sugar and that it can't possibly be shrimp
Image credits: CTCSquares
But Jensen investigated the bits further with his own eyes and was convinced they're coated shrimp tails
Image credits: JensenKarp
Jensen’s immediate reaction was that the unexpected findings had “something to do with me,” he told The Washington Post and swore that this wasn’t some Twitter prank. “Then when I looked back into the box and saw another one, I was like, ‘This is bonkers!’ I thought it was sort of funny. I kind of thought of it as Twitter fodder, or whatever, for a second.”
But the comedian has been a life-long fan of the cereal and it surely hit him hard. Jensen contacted the company to find out what this was all about, but General Mills responded to Karp's tweets saying it appeared to be an accumulation of cinnamon sugar.
The company has tweeted yet another response to the incident
Image credits: CTCSquares
Meanwhile, Jensen was thoroughly convinced these were actual shrimp shells and he thought that the company was not taking the blame. After some frustration and messaging back and forth, Jensen has set out to get the possible shrimp tails and the whole batch of cereal tested in a lab.
But CTC has sent Jensen a private message and offered him General Mills vouchers in return for this whole experience
Image credits: JensenKarp
Meanwhile, he returned to the cereal box that freaked him out and discovered even more gruesome findings
Image credits: JensenKarp
Image credits: JensenKarp
This could have happened to any of us. So to find out an expert’s opinion on how dangerous the shrimp shells found in a box of cereal really are, Bored Panda reached out to TÜV SÜD, a leading international company that specializes in safety, security, and sustainability solutions through testing, certification, auditing, and advisory services.
Thorsten Steinhübel, the Managing Director at TÜV SÜD Food Safety Institute GmbH, said that first, “In general it is not good if food contains any kind of unintended ingredient or substance. Food has to be safe and consumers must rely on proper declaration of ingredients, especially people who must follow a special diet.”
However, this explicit case of Jasper finding possible shrimp shells in his cereal “is not only an unexpected or unwanted ingredient but it is an allergen, a substance that can cause heavy allergic reactions in sensitive people.”
Also, what's up with these black things baked inside the bites?
Image credits: JensenKarp
Image credits: JensenKarp
“A food allergy is the body’s own hypersensitivity to food. The body reacts to individual food components (mostly proteins) with symptoms that are typical for allergies. Often, even the smallest amounts of the allergen are enough to trigger the symptoms.”
It turns out that “prawns are known to be the most common triggers of an allergic reaction to seafood,” said Thorsten Steinhübel and added that “the clinical spectrum ranges from generalized urticaria (predominantly) to gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms to unspecific pruritus and oral allergy syndrome.”
And... cinnamon-covered pea thing?!
Image credits: JensenKarp
Another Cinnamon Toast Crunch bag in Jensen's home had what seemed to be dental floss
Image credits: JensenKarp
This is not all. “In addition, cases of contact urticaria are known when processing raw shrimp. An occurrence of occupational bronchial asthma was also observed. Actually, shrimp allergies vary in each person, but in general the symptoms of shrimp allergies are characterized by:
- Rashes, Itchy skin
- Nausea, dizziness, headache
- Swelling of the lips
- Shortness of breath
- Decrease in blood pressure
- Vomit
- Diarrhea.
Considering this, even the smallest cross-contamination can cause serious health problems for a certain group of consumers.”
While CNC has initiated the investigation into Jensen's unwelcome surprises, the man wanted to keep one of the pieces of evidence so he won't be made to look insane
Image credits: JensenKarp
The Managing Director at TÜV SÜD Food Safety Institute explained further: “Imagine you are allergic to seafood and you are very careful regarding what you choose to eat and you’re used to reading ingredient lists carefully. I guess you would not—as most people do—expect seafood in cereals or not even traces.”
This unexpectedness is exactly what makes cross-contamination so dangerous. “You’re not expecting the hazard. This is like an attack coming out of nowhere while you feel safe,” Thorsten Steinhübel concluded.
Thankfully, Jensen is feeling fine after eating a whole bowl of that cereal, but there has been no more news from General Mills
As you can imagine, people were utterly shocked by this whole shrimpy 'affair'
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Bored Panda contacted General Mills for a comment. The spokesperson Mike Siemienas told us: “While we are still investigating this matter, we can say with confidence that this did not occur at our facility. We are waiting for the consumer to send us the package to investigate further. Any consumers who notice their cereal box or bag has been tampered with, such as the clear tape that was found in this case, should contact us."
The Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp became a thing and the memes started pouring in
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