WARNING may contain...

I am a HUGE Cream of Wheat fan! I make mine with milk instead of water and sometimes I add a smidgen of butter and brown sugar for extra goodness. I don't take the time everyday to enjoy the enriched farina taste but when I'm in the mood I like to have it on hand.

Yesterday was such a day and the red box was nowhere to be seen. I was sure I had an extra supply -- couldn't find it anywhere. Turns out Tim kiped the 28oz container for his own mid-morning hot fillingness at work 45 minutes from here. This morning I stopped by Albertsons for my own box.

One cup of cold milk in a glass microwavable bowl awaiting the cereal sat on the counter as I poured the contents of the red box into a lidded plastic container for fresh keeping. Out fell a small dark something I didn't recognize. Fishing it out with a spoon I decided it wasn't enough to scrap the entire meal although I wasn't interested in the extra protein it might provide. Continuing to pour, out came another unknown -- this one quite a bit more alive and...crawling.

Cream of Wheat breakfast over -- milk down the drain, I double looked and indeed it was alive and moving. I chose Special K instead today.

Did you know that the US Food and Drug Administration put out a printed manual entitled --

The Food Defect Action Levels

Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods
that present no health hazards for humans

Take wheat flour for example -- according to this manual it is perfectly legal and presents no health hazard to humans to include an average of 75 or more insect fragments per 50 grams of flour. I'm not sure if live insects are included in this number. Here's a photo of what the bug I saw looked like.


While I ingested soggy K's I clicked "contact us" at the BG Foods web portal. Here's what I wrote:

I purchased a box of Cream of Wheat 2 1/2 Minute cereal this morning at Albertsons on Clearwater in Kennewick. The best by information on the box reads: Jan 09 2010 XJM 07:21 9 The UPC Bar Code is 1313000612. When I poured the cereal into a plastic container for storing I noticed what looked like a dead bug. I scooped it out with a spoon not really that worried about it. After pouring more there was a live crawling bug in the cereal. The box of cereal cost $4.49. I would like a full refund and new box of bug free Cream of Wheat for the hassle. If you need a copy of the receipt I can provide that. Please contact me regarding this matter as truthfully I am extremely grossed out by what I saw crawling around in your product. Thank you!

One time when we lived in Pocatello I wrote a letter to Breyers after purchasing a half gallon Peach Ice Cream that was freezer burned. Not only did I receive a refund of my purchase but a delivery of a dozen or so frozen products from Breyers arrived two months later.

Here's hoping BG Foods provides me enough bug-less product to last a long time.