No one wants to buy something that will bring unwelcome guests into their home.
Especially if those guests are bugs.
One Trader Joe’s shopper says she purchased a box of granola cereal to keep at home in case she felt like eating the snack. However, she came to regret purchasing it. She says her apartment building’s superintendent attributed a recent influx of bugs in her home to the single box of cereal.
In a TikTok, content creator Abigail (@abigailhanania_) says she was put off purchasing items from the retailer after the experience. Her video has drawn over 285,000 views on the platform as of Friday.
“This was very upsetting and really, really disgusting for me,” she says in the video.
@abigailhanania_ @Trader Joe’s i think we have to break up now #traderjoes #traderjoesnewitems #nyc #nycapartment #traderjoesgonewrong ♬ original sound – Abigail Rachel
What happened?
The bugs appeared near her sink and did not initially prompt panic, as she says bugs are a common occurrence in older apartments in New York City. However, she did raise the concern to her building super. She says he suggested the bugs might have also come from ongoing construction in the vicinity.
Still, an exterminator was called to come and spray for insects, but it did not help with the bugs. Months later, she says they discovered the source when the exterminator and her super were investigating. They were opening containers of food to see if they might be playing host to the bugs, she says.
“This is the box of that cereal that I just showed you from Trader Joe’s,” she says. “It’s filled with dirt.”
Abigail shows a photo of the cereal where it indeed seems like it’s filled with dirt. “It’s filled with like, soil, that you would like plant in,” she says. “I don’t even know, I’ve never opened this box before. It was never opened.”
She continues, “So my super then tells me that the bugs are coming out of this box of cereal because it’s filled with dirt, and that they need to drink the water from my sink, that’s why they’re by the sink.”
“So basically, Trader Joe’s sold me a box of dirt that I was not aware of, obviously, because I had never opened the box, and I was genuinely disgusted,” she concluded.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Abigail via email, as well as to Trader Joe’s via contact form.
Recent recalls
Trader Joe’s has issued a few recalls for items carried in its stores in recent years. This includes a pilaf reported to have contained rocks, pieces of plastic in soup dumplings, and tropical fruit allegedly contaminated by listeria.
The granola cereal shown in the video has not been the subject of a recent recall.
Viewers weigh in
Several viewers were skeptical of the poster’s claim, suggesting that it might be a very unfortunate one-off and not enough reason to swear off an entire store.
“So this is definitely weird but a one off. I wouldn’t say this is a common occurrence and reason to swear off the entire store,” one commenter wrote.
“If you didn’t question an unopened box, why would Trader Joe’s?” another said.
“Someone probably returned the cereal and put dirt in it,” a user claimed. “I don’t think TJ did that themselves lol.”
Others were a little more willing to buy in, writing that they had less than stellar experiences with items purchased at Trader Joe’s recently.
“I bought some grape tomatoes and they looked completely fine,” one commenter wrote. “The same day, I bit into one and it tasted SO SPOILED I literally gagged and spit it out so fast omg.”
“Yeah someone posted a video awhile ago of breadsticks they opened with a used bandaid in the package and that was enough to make me never wanna shop there again,” another said.
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