![]() Jaykus added that General Mills is “potentially looking at taking off a year’s worth” of cereal from the market, which has “enormous financial implications,” and is likely a reason the company has not issued a recall. Some experts believe the culprit could be a chemical ingredient. “From a public health perspective the prudent thing to do would be to pull the product off the market,” Jaykus said. “Although, there has been no scientific proven link, be it chemical or an allergen, between the several thousand illnesses and Lucky Charms,” Marler said, “my advice to General Mills is to recall the product and reset its trust with the consuming public until more is known.” With the lack of hard information, experts increasingly are recommending that General Mills initiate a recall. “I cannot think of one incident or outbreak where there were hundreds or thousands of people sickened and you couldn’t figure out the cause,” Marler said. To date, no known pathogen has been identified. The agency has begun testing boxes of the cereal from consumers who reported an illness and it is investigating General Mills’ manufacturing facilities, according to its website. The FDA has not provided an update on its investigation and declined to comment. “If it is the cereal that is making these, now 7,000, people ill, it seems more probable that it is a chemical or allergen as opposed to a bacteria or virus given the reported complaints and the length of reported illnesses,” Marler told the Post. General Mills has said it does not believe the cereal is making people sick. Jaykus believes it is a chemical ingredient in the cereal, in part, because so many people reported becoming ill very quickly - a couple of hours in some cases. The onset of Salmonella, for example, can take six hours to several days.īill Marler, an attorney and prominent expert on food-borne illnesses, agreed. “My first guess is that it was an ingredient change, because many food companies experienced not being able to get an ingredient and having to source it from a new provider over the past couple of years,” Jaykus said. ![]() Some food experts are calling on Lucky Charms manufacturer, General Mills, to voluntarily recall the cereal. ![]() One possible culprit, according to Jaykus: an alternative additive such as the food dye used to make the colorful, charm-shaped marshmallows in the cereal - which might help explain why some people have reported having green-colored poop, she said. Lee-Ann Jaykus, a professor of food, bioprocessing, and nutrition sciences at North Carolina State University who has been studying the case, believes the outbreak may be linked to pandemic-related supply chain issues. Meanwhile, a site that tracks food-borne illnesses, has tallied some 7,300 complaints as of May 5, up from 3,500 on April 20. Reports of sickness linked to Lucky Charms continue to widen as a federal investigation ramps up - and some food experts say manufacturer General Mills should consider a voluntary recall of the sugary breakfast cereal.Īs of Thursday, the number of Lucky Charms complaints submitted to the FDA had climbed to 529 - more than double the 231 cases reported as of April 20. General ills: FDA enlists states in Lucky Charms probe, company hands out coupons to victims Plane crashes into Georgia General Mills plant ‘Neon green poop’: FDA ends Lucky Charms probe despite continued reports of bizarre symptomsĬheerios may be the latest breakfast staple that’s making people sick
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