Shrimp Tails In Cinnamon Toast Crunch? What You Need To Know (Or Don't Want To Know)

General Mills Inc.’s GIS Cinnamon Toast Crunch brand has become the subject of social media ridicule following its exchange with comedian and podcaster Jensen Karp regarding some curious contents within a cereal box.

What Happened: On Monday, Karp sent a tweet that read, “Ummmm @CTCSquares - why are there shrimp tails in my cereal? (This is not a bit).”

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

The tweet included a photo of a few pieces of the square-shaped Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal with two elongated pieces of a darker color. He retweeted the photograph, adding the message: “Alright, I’m looping in @GeneralMills because I’m genuinely nervous I will never eat (or sleep) again without answers.”

The Cinnamon Toast Crunch Twitter page responded to Karp, stating: “We’re sorry to see what you found! We would like to report this to our quality team and replace the box. Can you please send us a DM to collect more details? Thanks!” Karp, however, responded: “GUYS - I am not sure I’m ready for another box!!!”

The diagnosis from the Cinnamon Toast Crunch did not point to shrimp tails.

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

But Karp refused to accept the explanation of badly blended sugar and produced additional photographs in which he claimed a small string was mixed in with the cereal and several cereal pieces had unidentified black spots. He also produced a picture of another unopened cereal bag which he identified as being taped up and containing what might have been a piece of dental floss.

What Happened Next: Some Twitter denizens speculated without evidence that the black spots on the cereal could be rodent droppings, and Karp stated he was sending the cereal to the local Poison Control agency for evaluation.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch stopped responding to Karp on Twitter, but his skein of tweets received a wave of comments from individuals who claimed to have found unwanted foreign objects in their canned, packaged and bottled foods.

A few higher-profile Twitter users also chimed in, with actor/filmmaker Seth Rogan tweeting, “I’d cut my mouth off if I were you” and comic and radio show host Michelle Collins insisting, “This entire thread is the worst thing my eyes have ever read.”

Jeremy Karp’s photo of unidentified objects in his Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.