Capri Sun... hoax or not?

Over the past two days two different Facebook pages have surfaced with claims of finding things, fleshy looking things, inside of the drink pouches for Capri Sun. Is this the first time something has been found in a Capri Sun pouch? No, it's not. A few years back a woman's kid was drinking a pouch of juice when the straw became clogged. Upon checking it out the woman found this gelatinous goo stuff.

The first one, to be honest, looked like a water logged mushroom. Supposedly the first one was confirmed by Kraft to be mold. Okay, I'll buy that. The pouch was punctured which meant air got into it, and since those things do sit on hot trucks for who knows how long during shipping, mold can grow.

The second thing looks like, I dunno what it looks like other than an urethra or some other fleshy item. To be honest, I think the second instance is faked for attention. The person who posted the second one saw how much attention the first poster was getting and decided to try to get some attention too.

I read the posts on Kraft's Facebook page and let me just say this, it has become a flame war. People are flaming the poster of the first set of pictures, making fun of them and so on. As for the second set of pictures, they're getting attention on other sites where they're being made fun of, big time.

I emailed Kraft Foods as a concerned parent, I'm sorry, but I want to know. If this is a hoax then it needs to be shut down as soon as possible. If it's real then they need to recall every one of the packs from the affected lots or from that particular factory. Not to mention that box from the first claim you can clearly see that it was made in China, or so the stamp on it stated.

Here's what I wrote to Kraft -

Hi, as a concerned parent I have to ask this question. In the past 2 days 2 pages have popped up on Facebook claiming that there have been things found in Capri Sun juice pouches. Are these claims real or are they a hoax? If they are hoaxes, please shut them down. If they're real then please recall all cases from the affected lots.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Not sure if I'll even get an answer, but it's worth a shot, right?

What do you think? I'm curious as to what others think about this.

*UPDATE 6-14-2010 9:49pm EST*

I got a response from Kraft foods. Here's what they said.

Thank You for Contacting Us!

Hi Z,

Thank you for visiting http//www.caprisun.com/ and for your interest in Capri Sun.

The quality and safety of Kraft Foods products and Capri Sun are our very highest priority. Sometimes small leaks in the package may occur and because Capri Sun does not have preservatives, these leaks may lead to a quality issue but not a food safety one.

We recently received word from a consumer about an issue with a Capri Sun pouch. We understand that some people are concerned. Now that we've tested the material, we've confirmed it was mold. While unpleasant, it is not a safety issue. If this had been a safety issue, Kraft Foods certainly would have taken the necessary steps, including issuing a recall.

As a general food safety tip, please remember that because Capri Sun beverages don't have preservatives, a leaky pouch can cause the beverage to spoil and discarding it is the right action to take.

If you haven’t done so already, please add our site to your favorites and visit us again soon!

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations

~~TLXEA_20649958~~Y

Since they had no mention of the second one what so ever, I'm going to have to say it's a hoax. The first one was plausible, the second one...not so much by the looks of what was found in the pouch.

So there you have it, my opinion and a little leg work to get to the bottom of things.

< /rant >