What’s going on with the FDA, Lucky Charms and sick consumers? What you need to know
The cold cereal that popularized marshmallows and oats in milk for breakfast, Lucky Charms, is being investigated by the Food & Drug Administration as claims of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea from the cereal become more plentiful than the number of marshmallows in each bowl.
Here’s what you need to know.
How many people have gotten sick by Lucky Charms?
In an email to the Miami Herald Monday, an FDA spokesperson said its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s Adverse Event Reporting System “has received over 100 reports related to Lucky Charms in 2022, and the agency is currently reviewing and investigating these reports.”
A Wall Street Journal story quoted the founder of the food safety website iwaspoisoned.com as claiming 3,000 reports from sickened consumers. It’s those complaints that General Mills referenced as it answered a series of I-got-sick comments on its April 4 Facebook post.
“We take the consumer concerns reported via a third-party website very seriously,” the company said. “Through our continuing internal investigations, we have not found any evidence of consumer illness linked to the consumption of Lucky Charms. Nonetheless, we’d like to report this to the appropriate personnel. Could you please send us a PM so we can collect some more information?”
Has a recall of Lucky Charms been issued?
No. The FDA and USDA rarely order a recall. If a company’s being truculent over the FDA’s request to issue a recall, the FDA might issue a do-not-use advisory about a product.
But, most food, drug and product manufacturers issue recalls voluntarily. This isn’t altruism, however. Though corporate food distributors like money, they would rather take the short term financial hit of a recall than the long term economic strain to the image of a product sickening hundreds or killing a few people via a food-borne disease or adulteration.
How common are problems with cold cereals?
It happens. A 31-state 2018 salmonella outbreak was traced to Kellogg’s Honey Smacks.
Where can you report a problem with food or drugs?
First, notify a medical professional.
Second, let the FDA know via its MedWatch Adverse Event page or by filling out a form you can get by calling 800-332-1088. Or, you can call a consumer complaint coordinator at the appropriate number for your state.
If your problem is with meat or poultry, let the USDA know through its Food Safety Inspection Service. You can email MPHotline.fsis@usda.gov or call 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854), Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time.
Then, notify the manufacturer.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 6:25 PM.
