IN the midst of the raging pandemic in a world that frequently feels as if it’s on fire, a row over a box of cereal is escalating across the Atlantic.

 

What’s happening?

Earlier this week, a US comedian, Jensen Karp, claimed that he was having a second bowl of cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch - known as Curiously Cinnamon in the UK - when “something plopped out of the box”.

 

What “plopped out”?

The 41-year-old said part of a prawn fell out, tweeting that he “picked it up” and said to himself, “This is clearly a shrimp tail”. He then found another tail in the bag of cereal that is a big seller in the US, produced by multinational manufacturer, General Mills. Both finds were encrusted with sugar.

 

Shellfish? In his cereal?

He tweeted the cereal firm, asking: “Ummmm - why are there shrimp tails in my cereal?” They replied that, having closely examined images he sent to them, “it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren't thoroughly blended”.

 

It didn’t end there?

Karp said he found squares with "black marks" cooked into them, saying: "For real, someone tell me they aren't like maggots or bugs..." He then said he found a few objects that looked like “shrimp skins-looking things” and that his actress wife - Danielle Fishel Karp, who played Topanga Lawrence-Matthews on US TV show “Boy Meets World” - found “dental floss”.

 

Of course, it’s all gone viral?

It’s been feasted on by late night talk show hosts Stateside, the New York Times interviewed Karp and even the stars are expressing shock. Concerned “Walk On By” singer Dionne Warwick tweeted: “Is there shrimp being packaged next to the cinnamon cereal?” Chefs have also been trying their hand at incorporating the cereal into shrimp dishes.

 

Karp is now having the “tails” tested?

The company told him to take the items to the police if he was unwilling to send them in to them for examination. But Karp - who is now known as "Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shrimp Tails Guy” - told his followers: “I am happy to report a Carcinologist (crustacean researcher)…is going to morphologically identify the shrimp using microscopy and he will work with a team of researchers to use DNA to try and identify the putative shrimp down to species.”

 

Some are unconvinced?

One tweeter said: “Weird how the cereal shrimp thing happened to a guy that has been trying to blow up the internet for 20 years.”

 

What do the company say?

General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said: “It is amazing the amount of news coverage that this story has generated. I must admit that some of it is kind of humorous, but what I want you to know…is that we take food safety very seriously.”

 

Meanwhile…?

Cereal is still booming worldwide during the pandemic. Sales have surged overall, with indulgent cereals the most popular - chocolate, sweet and flavoured cereal sales were up by £67.8 million - the biggest jump of the market.