Cinnamon Toast Crunch under fire for response to claims of shrimp tails found in cereal

Cinnamon Toast Crunch and its parent company General Mills are getting roasted on social media for the company’s response to claims a man found shrimp tails and rat droppings in his cereal.

“Ummmm why are there shrimp tails in my cereal? (This is not a bit),” writer and comedian Jensen Karp tweeted Monday, along with a photo of the cereal package with alleged shrimp tails.

Karp tagged Cinnamon Toast Crunch’s official Twitter account, which responded with an apology and an offer to replace the box. Karp said he exchanged several direct messages with the company, which adamantly denied shrimp tails could be in his cereal.

“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,” @CTCSquares wrote.

“Ok… 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 angrily responded.

Karp posted several other tweets complaining about black spots on some cereal squares, and a piece of dental floss in a second Cinnamon Toast Crunch package. Social media users suggested the black spots were mouse or rat excrement and the shrimp, string and other objects were scavenged by the rodent in flour or other materials.

Karp said he also reported his findings to a Costco store in California where he purchased the cereal and contacted Poison Control as he had already eaten a bowl before finding the shrimp tails.

Karp’s tweets and the company’s response went viral as “Cinnamon Toast Crunch” became a trending topic Monday night and Tuesday morning.

“Hey I hate asking for help on here but I am asking you to be on the lookout for several shrimp tails that I seem to have misplaced. I haven’t been many places recently, just the car wash, the post office, cereal factory tour, an ATM visit, and a friend’s backyard. PLEASE HELP,” comedian Paul F. Tompkins wrote.

“I’d cut my mouth off if I were you,” actor Seth Rogen tweeted to Karp.

“This gaslighting by the cinnamon toast crunch corporation is a national scandal,” writer and podcast host Dana Schwartz added.

“I just puked in my mouth a little and that is still more appetizing than what he found inside his box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch @GeneralMills,” another Twitter user said.

General Mills and Cinnamon Toast Crunch have not commented further.

Karp, whose credits include the TV series “Drop the Mic,” “The Masked Singer” and Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who is America,” said he would talk about his experience on TMZ Live Tuesday.

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