A 16-year-old student in the UK bought a bag of granola from a store, only to discover at home that the sealed bag was moving. Through the transparent part of the packaging, she could see the cereal inside wriggling, with chewing noises coming from within. It’s believed a mouse sneaked into the factory and was sealed in the packaging while eating the cereal.
Josie Wright bought a bag of raisin, nut, and honey-flavored granola from a shop in Arnos Grove, North London. When she got home, she realized the packaging was moving.
At first, she didn’t pay attention, until she heard “crunching and gnawing” sounds coming from the unopened one-kilogram bag.
According to video she filmed, despite the packaging being completely sealed, the oat clusters inside could still be seen shifting and rustling, accompanied by clear scratching noises.
"We didn’t notice anything unusual in the store, and when scanning the item, it didn’t register as overweight. But when we got home and I took the bag of cereal out of the shopping bag, I saw it move and heard noises," she said.
"At first I thought maybe the cereal was just settling, so I waited five minutes, but then I heard chewing. I tried to figure out what it was. I wondered if it might be insects or something, but you could hear it chewing. I instantly knew it had to be a rodent."
"It was really disgusting and shocking—nobody expects to find a mouse in granola. We think it might have been a small field mouse or something like that. We have no idea how it got in there, but we believe it was a factory issue."
"Looking into the bag, you could see the oats had been half-eaten. We think it was trying to escape. It was terrifying. What concerned us more was that rodent droppings can be very dangerous—ingesting them could be deadly," Josie said in an interview.
Josie and her mother returned the sealed bag to the store and reported the incident to customer service, but Josie claimed that supermarket staff “did not seem to care.”
"They didn’t seem too bothered and didn’t offer a voucher or any compensation. They just took the cereal and replaced it with a new bag. When we got home, we called customer service and they said they’d deal with it internally."
"We haven't heard anything since. Our main concern is how it got into the bag and whether this has happened to anyone else. I eat this for breakfast every day, but now I think I never want to touch granola again."
The store’s spokesperson said that an urgent investigation has begun with the supplier.
"Nothing is more important to us than product quality and safety. We are deeply sorry that this has not met our usual high standards. We are urgently investigating with the supplier and have asked to contact the customer for further review."