MrBeast, Logan Paul's Lunchly Called Out Over 'Disgusting' Discovery

A YouTuber claimed she opened a Lunchly packet and found moldy cheese inside—and now she's warning people that the products may not be safe.

MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI recently launched what they claim to be a "healthier" alternative to Lunchables. Aimed at their younger fan base, the trio teamed together to launch the "groundbreaking new better-for-you lunch option" that combines products they already sell into an all-in-one meal.

The lunch includes one of three processed food options—The Pizza, Turkey Stack 'Ems, or Fiesta Nachos—as well as a bottle of Prime Hydration, a sports drink alternative produced by Paul and KSI, and a Feastables milk chocolate bar created by MrBeast.

YouTuber Rosanna Pansino claims that a pack she bought was riddled with mold and said "this is really concerning."

"This is disgusting. I was filming a video comparing Lunchables to Lunchly and was shocked when I opened 'The Pizza' Lunchly. The cheese had MOLD!" Pansino posted on X, formerly Twitter, alongside a video of her having opened a pack of "The Pizza."

"The expiration date was still 2 months away! I checked online and found at least a dozen other people posting that their Lunchly's were moldy too. Full video is on my YouTube channel."

Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Pansino, MrBeast, Paul and KSI for comment on Monday.

In the video, Pansino said: "I was shooting a video comparing Lunchly to Lunchables and I opened the first package, which was meant to be good till December 8th, 2024, and we just got this one, it was fresh from the store this morning and there is a ton of mold in there."

As she showed close-ups of the bright blue mold, Pansino continued: "I honestly wasn't expecting that, I was thinking that, you know, they would taste pretty similar, just, you know, would not have the best, or better for you, ingredients. And I was going to go over nutritional facts and things but this is really concerning so I am just pausing from filming this to take a little break to show this."

Using a fork, the YouTuber then dug into the grated cheese, which appeared to be riddled with mold.

She added: "That is a ton of mold. That is really dangerous."

At the time of writing, her post had been viewed 13.7 million times.

MrBeast (left), Logan Paul and KSI (inset). A YouTuber has claimed one of their Lunchly packets had mold. Steve Granitz/Taylor Hill/Ben Roberts Photo/FilmMagic/WireImage/Getty Images

In a follow-up post, she shared pictures of the mold and wrote: "Just opened my first @Lunchly ever! So. Much. Mold. What flavor of mold did you guys get?"

In another post, she shared a picture of her having made the mini pizzas with the moldy cheese. "'I like my cheese moldy, bruh!'" she captioned the image alongside the nauseated face emoji.

"My moldy @Lunchly! 'Use By 08/Dec/24' @US_FDA," Pansino said in another post, this time tagging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

She concluded: "Please be careful everyone. This is not safe and not okay. Especially for children!"

In the YouTube video she uploaded, Pansino didn't reveal where she had bought the Lunchly products from, but said: "We just got them from the store." She also didn't clarify how she had been storing the products before use. If not stored correctly, cheese can become moldy quite quickly. On the Lunchly website, the product descriptions read: "Keep refrigerated. Do not freeze."

The FDA, which oversees food recommendations and rules, recommends that cheese be stored in a refrigerator at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Cheese should not be left out at room temperature for more than two hours, and its shelf life varies depending on the type of cheese.

Paul previously released a statement in which he described the meals as a "healthier alternative" to a market that is "dominated by Lunchables" and MrBeast stated that the intention is to "disrupt the lunch market for kids with healthier, better-tasting options."

When Lunchly received backlash from various people online, who branded the food as "unhealthy," MrBeast responded by retweeting a post from DramaAlert on X, which included screenshots of various YouTubers responding to the launch of Lunchly. He explained why he, KSI and Paul had launched Lunchly and why he thinks it's a healthier alternative to Lunchables.

"Lunchables sells hundreds of millions of units and countless people eat it. Our goal is to give people a better for you alternative to it. Our turkey meal for example is 80 less calories, 60% less sugar, more electrolytes, we use real cheese they use "cheese product" (they can't call it cheese), higher quality meat, etc," he wrote.

"Obviously eating fresh chicken and broccoli is healthier but if someone is going to eat a premade meal like this (which millions of people do thru lunchables) then I think giving them a higher quality version at roughly the same price is a net good imo [in my opinion] and why we launched Lunchly. Also as we get economies of scale and can get things cheaper we will be only improving the product more and more."

A community note was then added to MrBeast's post that read: "Feastables chocolates were also marketed as being healthier than other chocolate bars (only 5 ingredients!) Later the recipe was reformulated; they are now no healthier and the extra ingredients are disguised as 'unsweetened chocolate' counting as one of the 5 ingredients."

While the criticism may be warranted, when looking at the nutritional information of each Lunchly meal and its Lunchable comparison, the products the YouTubers are selling may be a healthier alternative—but that doesn't mean it's healthy food.

In the U.S., ultra-processed foods account for almost 60 percent of our energy intake, according to research published in the BMJ. This includes packaged snacks, carbonated drinks, instant noodles, ready meals and most products that contain a long list of ingredients, preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners and artificial flavorings.

Numerous studies have linked ultra-processed foods to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and bowel cancer, as well as obesity.