Taste of Home, Courtesy Marnie Shure, Getty Images
Taste of Home, Courtesy Marnie Shure, Getty Images
Published on Oct. 25, 2024
Lunchly was supposed to be the newer, better Lunchables—but consumers allege finding mold in the product.
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Who knew there’d be so much drama in the deli section? It started this week when Lunchly, the new boxed lunch product and Lunchables competitor backed by YouTube stars, began receiving the wrong kind of buzz. Customers were allegedly finding mold on the shredded cheese within the vacuum-sealed packages, and some shoppers claimed their grocery stores had temporarily removed the product from shelves. Multiple influencers online have posted videos corroborating the mold issue, and now, in the biggest blow to the MrBeast-led venture, grocery stores just might stop carrying it altogether.
What is going on with Lunchly?
Let’s back up a second for those who might not know who MrBeast is. He, along with Lunchly co-creators KSI and Logan Paul, are A-list influencers in the world of Gen Z online entertainment, each one having cultivated a massive YouTube fandom that has spilled over into the real world—particularly in the form of food and beverage products. In January 2022, Paul and KSI unveiled Prime, a sport and energy drink company ludicrously popular with those born after roughly 2007. That same month, MrBeast launched Feastables, a chocolate bar and snack brand with placements in virtually every major retailer. Lunchly is a collaborative product that includes a Feastables bar, a bottle of Prime, and one of three lunch entrees: Turkey Stack ‘Ems, “The Pizza,” and Fiesta Nachos. (The comparison to Lunchables here is self-evident.)
Lunchly hit stores in late September, and the weeks since its rollout have been turbulent. For one thing, the marketing almost exclusively touts Lunchly as a healthy alternative to similar products on the market, a claim that has been largely debunked by dieticians; while it has fewer grams of sugar and slightly fewer calories per serving than Lunchables, Lunchly’s sodium content, saturated fat content, artificial sweeteners and extensive processing make it kind of a wash between the two brands.
One thing everyone can agree on, though, is that mold is not a healthy addition to one’s lunch.
Is there mold in Lunchly boxes?
On October 20, TikTok user Rosanna Pansino posted a video in which she initially intended to unbox and taste-test Lunchly products in comparison to Lunchables but ended up finding mold in Lunchly’s shredded mozzarella (months before its expiration date). One TikTok user had posted a video appearing to show similar moldy mozzarella days prior. And Twitch streamer aSpicyCow purchased dozens of Lunchly boxes to disprove allegations of mold, only to find mold in the 22nd package.
As of this writing, there has been no formal recall of the product, nor has Lunchly released a statement about the issue.
Courtesy Marnie Shure
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