Weet-Bix responds to ‘gross’ find in cereal

A customer shared a mystery find in their Weet-Bix. Since then, Sanitarium set the record straight and explained exactly what it was.

Many people across the country cherish Weet-Bix as a breakfast staple, but one Aussie was left shocked when his morning routine took an unexpected turn.

As he opened a box of Weet-Bix to prepare his breakfast, he was stunned to discover something unusual inside the packet of cereal.

One of the biscuits had an unusual brown smear.

“What is this in my Weetbix?” the person asked in the r/Australia Reddit forum in a post that received over 400 responses.

Despite people’s various theories, Sanitarium Health Food Company has come out to set the record straight.

A customer discovered a Weet-Bix that had a mysterious brown smear on it. Picture: Reddit

“Our team are disappointed to learn that one of our valued Weet-Bix consumers has had this experience with their recent purchase,” a spokesperson for the company told news.com.au.

They said that based on the image, they did not believe the issue posed any food safety concern.

“We believe the discolouration shown in the Weet-Bix biscuit is likely to have been caused by a build-up of bran crumbs,” they explained.

“Sanitarium uses whole grains of wheat to make Weet-Bix. Bran is the fibrous part of the wheat grain. Bran crumbs can occasionally build up and form clumps during the manufacturing process.

“Although the build-up is visually unpleasant and can have a burnt odour and taste, it does not present any food safety issues.”

It’s understood that Sanitarium is working with the customer to reassure them and arrange collection and replacement of the affected product.

“As part of our robust product quality process, we have commenced a formal investigation at our factory site by our technical and quality assurance teams to investigate the issue and will take any appropriate action,” they concluded.

Sanitarium has set the record straight, saying that the smear poses no food safety risks and happened due to a build-up of bran crumbs in the manufacturing process. Picture: Supplied

In the comments, people had a field day speculating about what the mysterious substance was.

“Is it chocolate?” one person asked. “Someone on the process line dropped it and created a fusion?”

“Maybe it’s some beef jerky – extra protein!” quipped another.

“Looks like it’s been overcooked,” said a fourth.

“Or it’s ancient fossil,” added a fifth.

Not the first time an Aussie makes a shock pantry staple find

It comes after someone got an equally as rude shock inside another pantry staple yesterday.

A mum was horrified when she opened a packet of SunRice’s 90-second Jasmine Rice and discovered it was filled with mould.

She had recently purchased it from the supermarket, however, upon opening it, she was disgusted by what she found.

A mum found mould in her packet of microwave rice. Picture: Supplied

Inside, the rice was hardened and was covered in yellow and black mould.

“SunRice is usually the go-to brand in our house,” the woman told news.com.au.

“I was about to serve it with salmon for my kids’ dinner and it was completely mouldy. I nearly vomited.”

The woman noted that the expiry date was November 2025 – just under a year away.

“Mould can develop in different ways. Most commonly if the packaging was damaged through transit or storage, oxygen can leak into the product causing mould,” an email she received from the company stated.

“Even through the tiniest pinhole or crack in the seal — mould could get the chance to grow.”

The woman said that in addition to the lengthy response, she received a $10 voucher to replace her purchase.

Both Woolworths and Coles sell the packets for $3.50.

A spokesperson for SunRice told news.com.au that the “quality of our products is our highest priority” and “we take quality assurance testing seriously.”

They stated that without additional information, they could not comment directly on this incident and apologised to the customer.