On April 6, 2021, TMZ reported that a 6-year-old boy supposedly found a bullet in a bag of Cheetos. The article included a photograph of a bullet and a bag of Cheetos Puffs Flamin' Hot.
The story might remind some readers of the man who claimed to have found shrimp tails, string, and rat feces in a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. There's also the old and true Halloween rumors that told of pins, needles, and razor blades being found in candy after a night of trick-or-treating.
Background and Pictures
TMZ reported that the boy found the bullet at the bottom of the Cheetos bag on Easter Sunday:
Bow Horn Weasel of Elmo, Montana tells TMZ ... he bought the bag of chips Saturday at a local convenience store and his 6-year-old son broke it open Easter Sunday for a lil spicy chow down.
We're told the boy found the bullet at the bottom of the bag after devouring the chips. The bullet appears to have Hot Cheetos' red coating on it. Bow scoffs at the doubters, saying a bullet didn't just drop out of the sky into the bag ... and don't even get him started with people who think the whole thing is made up.
We were able to find the photographs on Twitter, and they appeared to first be posted on April 4, which was Easter Sunday. The account posted four pictures of a Cheetos bag and bullet:
Reaching Out to the Customer
We contacted the person who posted the photos, who appeared to be the boy's mother. She told us that Frito-Lay was sending a package so they can ship the bag and bullet to the company.
In an email, she said: "Maybe I'm more annoyed about the trolls on social media saying it's fake, we put it in the bag, or shaming us for letting our son have a bag of hot Cheetos ... It is not fake, we do not own guns, and our son does not eat these all the time! Yes everyone has their own opinions and I have my own as well."
We asked if there were any holes found on the bag. She said: "I'll have to look at it tonight, I don't remember if there was or not."
Frito-Lay Responds
The company said to the customer on Twitter: "So sorry for the delayed reply. We are so glad you brought this to our attention. We take this very seriously & would like to look into this further!"
A spokesperson for Frito-Lay also provided the following statement to us: "Frito-Lay is committed to ensuring the quality and safety of our products. This situation is highly unusual and troubling, and we have already taken steps to investigate and attempt to identify the root cause. We appreciate Mr. Weasel bringing this to our attention and will continue to work with him to resolve this matter."
We were unable to independently confirm whether the story is true. However, we will update this story should we receive more details.
Pending further evidence, we have rated this story as "Unproven."
A Similar Story from 2020
This was not the first time someone claimed to have found a bullet in a bag of Cheetos. On Feb. 3, 2020, WOIO-TV reported that a man in Akron, Ohio, found a bullet in his bag as well.
The owner of Delia Market in Akron thwarted a robbery attempt on his store Saturday. Police tell us when three masked men entered the store with guns drawn, the store owner fired at them, hitting one. They took off.
...
The next day something strange happened. An Akron man bought a bag of flaming hot Cheetos.
As he started eating them, he realized they were spilling on his pants. Then, he noticed a hole in the bag, only to find a bullet inside the [Cheetos] bag. He posted about it on Facebook.
The story said no one was hurt during the attempted robbery.