FDA investigating Lucky Charms amid reports of illness

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is investigating Lucky Charms over dozens complaints it has received from customers who say they became ill after eating the cereal.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, the FDA said it “takes seriously any reports of possible adulteration of a food that may also cause illnesses or injury.”

General Mills told the AP that it has so far found no links between Lucky Charms and illness among customers. The Minneapolis-based company said it encouraged customers to contact them directly over concerns.

Hundreds of people have complained of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting after eating the cereal on the iwaspoisoned.com food safety website.

Reports have been made from across the country, with consumers from Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina Tennessee and Texas complaining of illness.

Patrick Quade, founder of the website, told The Wall Street Journal that the 3,000 reports it has received about Lucky Charms this year was the most ever for a single product in its decade online. He added most of the reports were made in the past two weeks.

According to the complaints, symptoms began from 30 minutes to a few hours after eating Lucky Charms. One individual said they tested their son for COVID-19 after he began experiencing symptoms, before they noticed that he seemed to get ill after eating the cereal.

Last week, the FDA told USA Today that it was aware of the reports of illness and was looking into them. The newspaper noted that direct complaints to the FDA regarding Lucky Charms have generally been rare, with only 41 since 2004 and three since last year.

One of the complaints received by the FDA since 2021 was related to the complaints made on iwaspoisoned.com.