Just one month after its launch, MrBeast’s Lunchables alternative, Lunchly, has made some stomachs churn instead of grumble. Lunchly customers are claiming the to-go lunch packages contain mold, with even a high-profile YouTuber joining the chorus of grossed-out buyers.
Rosanna Pansino, a YouTube-famous influencer and cookbook author with 14.5 million subscribers on the app, posted a video of herself Sunday opening a package of Lunchly containing ingredients for pizza, including disks of dough, a pouch of tomato sauce, and shredded cheese, which Pansino alleged contained spores of blue mold growing on it.
Pansino said she filmed the video, originally intended to compare the ingredients of Lunchly with Lunchables, in mid-October, and the Lunchly meals had a December expiration date. She blasted Lunchly for potentially endangering fans who purchased the product.
“I for one have grown sick of the 'make money at any cost' mindset of a lot of the top YouTubers,” Pansino wrote in a comment underneath her video. “I am going to continue speaking up about these topics because people are starting to get hurt physically AND mentally, and now dangerous food is being sold to fans. Enough is enough.”
Pansino’s grievances with Lunchly follow a slew of Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers who have posted similar reactions to what they claim is mold growing on Lunchly pizza cheese. Some TikToks allegedly showing mold in Lunchly packages have received over 8.8 million views.
Lunchly, which also comes in packs of turkey, cheese, and crackers as well as nachos, are a product of MrBeast's, a.k.a Jimmy Donaldson, as well as YouTubers turned entrepreneurs Logan Paul and Olajide "KSI" Olatunji. The lunch meals also come with a bottle of Prime, a hydration drink created by Paul and Olatunji, and a chocolate bar from Feastables, a MrBeast brand.
The product is the latest venture of YouTube megastars, who have a joint following of over 350 million subscribers. MrBeast earned $54 million through YouTube in 2023, according to Forbes, and Paul racked up $20.9 million, putting him in the top 10 highest earners on YouTube. While lines of snacks and drinks have become a way to appeal to young generations’ obsession with internet hype and social status, they don’t necessarily equate to sustained success. Prime notched $250 million in sales its first year, but now finds itself marked down on grocery store discount shelves.
A spokesperson representing Lunchly, Paul, and Prime told Fortune all Lunchly products undergo strict review. “That process consists of multiple inspections and approvals, including that of the USDA, before any product can even leave the manufacturing facility,” the spokesperson said.
Legal troubles
Even prior to her Lunchly complaint, Pansino has taken issue with several of MrBeast’s projects. Last year, she alleged MrBeast edited her out of a Creator Games video series in 2021. She came forward earlier this year claiming she spoke with over 200 contestants on MrBeast’s Beast Games competition show originally set to premiere on Amazon, some of whom alleged participants were fed 400 calories every 12 hours during the shoot and were only allowed to sleep three to four hours, with participants sleeping in sleeping bags on a stadium floor. Pansino did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Other participants said they did not receive adequate medical care and saw contestants suffer injuries and vomit on set, according to a New York Times investigation from August. Last month, MrBeast was named in a lawsuit claiming competitors on the show were subject to unfair treatment and sexual harassment.
A spokesperson for MrBeast told Fortune in a statement that the shoot “was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues.”
“We communicated directly with 97% of the 2,000 people who attended to ask for feedback, and took the necessary steps to ensure that we learned from this experience and continue to comply with standard industry rules and regulations,” the spokesperson said.
Donaldson’s business partners Paul and KSI are also plenty familiar with controversies surrounding their products. Prime has been sued by its bottler Refresco for allegedly failing to fulfill minimum order requirements and abruptly cutting ties with the bottler after sales for the drinks faltered. Prime also faced lawsuits accusing its packaging of containing forever chemicals and of mislabeling the amount of caffeine in its energy drink. The lawsuit regarding forever chemicals was dismissed.
“It’s just an example of people, like, reaching, trying to get attention, make a quick buck on a frivolous lawsuit that actually has no merit or is based in nothing,” Paul said in an episode of his Impaulsive podcast earlier this month.
