TikToker @sunshineinsa claims she experienced quality control issues with a bottle of chocolate Fairlife Nutrition Plan Protein she purchased from a Sam’s Club location. In a series of TikTok videos, she said that the shake tasted “funny” and asked her followers if they noticed it felt off as well.
In the first clip she posted about it, she showed off the batch number on top of one of the drinks’ bottle caps and said she called Fairlife about the issue. The TikToker said a customer service representative for the company speculated the drinks were stored inappropriately and said that while the flavor may’ve been off, they were totally fine to drink.
“I told her there was no way in hell I was drinking these. They did not taste good,” the TikToker who has nearly 30,000 followers said before urging folks to check the labels on their own bottles.
@sunshineinsa Fairlife Nutrition Shake Quality Concern #fairlife #proteinshake #bariatricsurgery #vsg #rny #samsclub @fairlifeofficial @samsclub ♬ original sound – sunshineinSA
In a follow-up video, @sunshineinsa said she spoke with the company again about the issue and delineated the nature of their call. “They contacted me back this morning and said that they are aware and investigating what is going on because of course they have received multiple calls regarding the taste of the shakes involved with this best-by date and lot number,” she said.
According to the TikToker, the service representative for Fairlife “said that they have gotten you know obviously reports of the taste being affected,” before adding that “some people describe it as a chemical taste, cinnamon clove, a spoiled taste and she said that they have gotten a few people that have felt nauseous after drinking it.”
@sunshineinsa added that the worker claimed they are reimbursing customers in the form of “$20 Fairlife Visa gift cards” in order “to replace the number of packs” customers purchased. However, she said the worker told her those gift cards were currently unavailable but that “as soon as they get them back in stock they” would ship one out to her “via certified FedEx.”
@sunshineinsa 🚨Fairlife Shake Issue Update 🚨 #fairlife #bariatric #surgery #vsg #weightloss #protein #shake #gastricsleeve #wls #recall ♬ original sound – sunshineinSA
In a third video, the TikToker said that she went back to Sam’s Club in order to return the “5 cases of shakes” she purchased.
“While I was there one of the managers on duty had asked if she could talk to me you know for a few minutes,” she said.
She said she believes “Sam’s Club is well aware there’s an issue going on because of all the returns they’re getting” and added that the manager “had noticed the date on [her] shakes was March 18th.”
@sunshinainsa said that while the same Fairlife products on Sam’s Club store shelves were dated March 24, they were part of the same lot number as the ones she was attempting to return. She then said the employees wanted to use her taste buds to determine whether or not they had a similar flavor issue to the other ones that so many customers were returning to the store.
“She was like, ‘Hey we’ve tasted it, and we don’t know … how it’s different ’cause we don’t drink these shakes. Would you mind tasting the March 24 date and telling us if it tastes like your March 18 dates,” @sunshinainsa recalled the worker asking her.
The TikToker said that she agreed to do so and when she sampled the March 24 batch, they tasted identical to the ones that she had an issue with. “It tasted just like mine. It had that weird chemical cinnamon clove weird taste,” she said.
@sunshineinsa said her Sam’s Club location decided to pull the products from the shelves and “reached out to home office for further instruction.”
@sunshineinsa Fairlife Quality Update: Shakegate continues! #fairlife #shakegate #bariatric #surgery #vsg #gastricsleeve #protein #shake #weightloss #wls #recall #rny ♬ original sound – sunshineinSA
@sunshineinsa third video was the most viral of the three, amassing over 1 million views. Commenters found it odd a Sam’s Club employee would ask her to sample the drinks.
“That is strange that a store asked you to sample a product that is already in question,” one said. Another remarked, “Costco would never ask you to taste it just in case”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @sunshineinsa via TikTok comment, and Fairlife, and Sam’s Club via email for further information.
Update 3:51pm CT, Apr. 21, 2023: Fairlife shared the following statement to the Daily Dot via email:
“We are aware of a taste issue with select cases of Nutrition Plan Chocolate that is resulting in an enhanced clove-like flavor. While the product is safe, it’s not the taste our consumers expect from us, and it’s not the experience we want them to have. All impacted cases with this flavor note have been removed from retailers given the likelihood that the product won’t meet our consumer’s expectations. For those who purchased Nutrition Plan and are unhappy with the taste, we encourage you to reach out to our customer service team at fairlife.com/contact-us/.”
