Los Angeles-based comedian and writer Jensen Karp found multiple surprises Monday in his double box pack of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, including what he believed to be shrimp tails and other foreign objects that had mysteriously made their way into the cereal. That led to a back and forth with cereal-maker General Mills that has gone viral.
Karp's tweet thread included photos of what he said appeared to be dental floss inside a bag that also appeared to have been taped up. Multiple pieces of the square-shaped cinnamon and sugar cereal also had dark spots. Karp even posted photos to Twitter of at least one pea shaped object which some Twitter users speculated could have possibly been rat droppings, but that has not been confirmed.
The comedian shared his experience on Twitter and tagged General Mills' account for the cereal @CTCSquares. That began a back and forth with at least one representative from the company who appeared to try to downplay what the foreign objects were.
In Karp's tweet Monday he wrote "these are cinnamon coated SHRIMP TAILS, you weirdos." That was after a representative from General Mills said that their quality control department had confirmed from viewing the photos that those objects could be "an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren't thoroughly blended."
The banter escalated as Karp pushed back, insisting that they were shrimp tails covered in cinnamon sugar.
Karp provided more evidence of what he insisted were foreign contaminants, tweeting at one point, "Something regarding the stupid 'Did he fake this?' take: there are black items COOKED ONTO the squares and tons of it at the bottom of the bag, in addition to shrimp tails and other SUGAR COATED junk. Also, it’s only 'viral' because of their insane response. I would’ve dropped it."
As the conversation on Twitter escalated with the General Mills representative, the company encouraged Karp to send the cereal boxes to the company via FedEx so the company could inspect what he was finding. Karp basically refused and accused the company of exaggerating their outreach to him saying, "I plan on continuing full transparency for those concerned about their products. This is the first I’ve heard from them since yesterday (when they said they were sending an envelope) and my new response."
He provided screen shots on Twitter of some of his conversations with the cereal's PR team and, at one point, accused them of not leaving a voice mail on his phone as they said they did.
Karp also posted that his wife, actress Danielle Fishel of "Boy Meets World," inspected another bag of cereal from one of the multiple boxes that they have purchased, where he alleges that they discovered what appeared to be dental floss mixed in.
While General Mills is still investigating how the foreign objects could have gotten into the product, they insist that they can "say with confidence that this did not occur at" their facility, seeming to imply that there may have been tampering after it left their hands.
Karp announced Tuesday that he was doing an investigation of his own saying, "I feel fine. I am going to get the black stuff tested today." He also added that he felt that the company was not being as responsive has he hoped writing, "Most importantly, nothing new from General Mills since they asked me to send them the shrimp tails that they had tried to convince me was sugar."
This is a developing story and will continue to be updated
