Mark it on your calendar folks, March 23rd, 2021 will forever go down as the day we all collectively decided to start scrutinizing every single bowl of cereal we ever pour. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is now trending on Twitter, after writer and comedian Jensen Karp first tweeted out a photo of what appeared to be dried shrimp tails in his cereal, something he made sure to explain was “not a bit.”
As you might expect, the food-loving internet can’t stop talking about how disturbing a sight it was.
Ummmm @CTCSquares – why are there shrimp tails in my cereal? (This is not a bit) pic.twitter.com/tTjiAdrnVp
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
But anyone with a strong enough stomach to follow Karp’s journey to discover what exactly happened to this box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch will tell you that the alleged shrimp isn’t even the most disturbing part of Karp’s cursed box. He has since shared more of his findings, which include a re-taped bag, and weird black items cooked into the cereal itself.
Sadly for Karp, he made these discoveries after he ate at least one bowl.
For real – someone tell me they aren’t like maggots or bugs. Is it shrimp adjacent? (also just found this weird cinnamon covered pea thing?)
I wish this was a joke. pic.twitter.com/7pCs0TJCpv— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
Stuff like this is all at the bottom of the bag, and what appears to be cooked ONTO some squares. Please be nice with your guesses l, because I will walk into traffic if I ate what I think it is… pic.twitter.com/Zs7ZDygTxA
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
To be fair to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, we can’t yet say for sure that these are shrimp tails — though they certainly look EXACTLY like shrimp tails. Perhaps they’re pieces of tape that rolled while being heated and are covered in cinnamon and sugar?
Regardless, it’s very fair to say that CTC’s official explanation for what these actually are isn’t doing it for us.
After further investigation with our team that closely examined the image, it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren’t thoroughly blended. We assure you that there’s no possibility of cross contamination with shrimp.
— Cinnamon Toast Crunch (@CTCSquares) March 22, 2021
“After further investigation with our team that closely examined the image, it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren’t thoroughly blended.”
That came from the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Twitter account, to which Karp responded:
“ok, well after further investigation with my eyes, these are cinnamon coated SHRIMP TAILS, you weirdos. I wasn’t all that mad until you now tried to gaslight me?”
Karp is currently taking the box of cereal to the lab to get to the bottom of what’s really behind this mess.
We’re going to a lab pic.twitter.com/utlWpU1k4I
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
Though he seemed fairly bemused at first, Karp was clearly made more upset by the laissez-faire response from Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Some updates: I am now in touch with a testing lab re: the “black things,” which I will not yet be calling by any other name for my own sanity. Also, a research company will be paying to DNA test the shrimp tail! (2021, y’all)
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
I want to also explain this: I have NO idea how this stuff got in my cereal bags and neither does @CTCSquares. It definitely could’ve been contaminated in the Costco (though that doesn’t explain the squares with black stuff COOKED on it or the sugar coating on the shrimp)
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
My point is – their initial reaction to shellfish being in the bag was to tell me it was sugar. Not to investigate the issue or look into it. It’s a deadly allergy to many (and non-Kosher) and that didn’t seem to matter beyond offering me a new box.
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021