Breakfast at Your Desk: Remember the Recent Cereal Recall? Guess What Scary Chemical Was to Blame

Remember the Kellogg’s cereal recall last month? The company recalled 28 million boxes of Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, after people complained about a bizarre odor from the boxes that was causing nausea and even intestinal distress. You’ll never believe what the chemical turned out to be–it’s gross!

The culprit? A petroleum-based chemical called methylnaphthalene. It’s a substance found in tar and crude oil, points out AOL News. And while it’s commonly used by manufacturers as an ingredient in food packaging, the amount of the chemical found in the Kellogg’s packages was off the charts.

Is it safe?

“The petrochemical has obviously been approved by the FDA for use in food packaging, but the levels found in the Kellogg’s bags exceeded normal limits–that’s why consumers started complaining of a scent, as well as nausea and diarrhea,” reports AOL. …In studies on animals, it’s been linked to serious lung damage when consumed or inhaled.”

I don’t know about you, but that’s not something I want to ingest. It’s funny, we dwell so much on the foods we put in our bodies, but we think so little about the packaging that the foods come in, and what chemicals may leech into our food.

I guess I’ll always be a little suspicious of a food product that spells fruit, “froot.” 🙂

Interesting to think about, huh?