Urobouros

Nov 19, 2024

WARNING: This cereal caused me 8+ hours vomiting

It is with regret that I post this review. However, I need to warn people that this cereal is really not fit for human consumption, and can cause severe (and incredibly painful) vomiting, diarrhoea, headache and nausea. I really would have loved this cereal to be awesome. I have been on a keto-ish diet for more than 4 years, so I am (theoretically) the perfect target market for this product. I ordered 4 boxes, and since Magic Spoon does not ship to my country, Australia, I also paid an exorbitant extra fee to have a third party company ship the items to me. I was that keen! When the boxes arrived, I was excited. The packaging was very attractive. But as soon as I opened the packets, I had the immediate intuition that this stuff was serious 'junk food'. The flavourings smelt incredibly fake. But I still wanted to give it a go. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, I ate around 3 bowls of different Magic Spoon cereals. I only actually liked the taste of one - the Maple Waffle. The Peanut Butter was so-so, Cocoa kind of gross, and Frosted inedible. I had some mild diarrhoea and stomach discomfort initially, but just put it down to the fact that I hadn't eaten anything 'cereal like' in a while. Also, I was wondering about the seed oils in Magic Spoon, since I tend not to use those, and wondered if they might have given me a reaction. The only other thing I ate that day aside from these cereals was my usual steak and greens. I had a small amount of cereal right before bed. I awoke at 2am in the most horrendous pain, and spent the next 8+ hours vomiting and wretching this cereal out of myself. It was excruciating. I was so exhausted that I actually curled up in a doona on the cold tile floor next to my toilet and would just lapse in and out of consciousness in between bouts of vomiting and wretching. After this initial 8 hours of hell, I had to cancel my entire work day (including of course losing my income for the day, since I am a business owner). I passed out in bed, and did not wake until 5pm the next day (today).... The intensely painful headache which started with the vomiting is still present now. I started researching the ingredients in Magic Spoon, and I now realise why they are not shipping to Australia (well, at least one reason). That is, that one of the main ingredients in Magic Spoon, allulose, was actually banned here until very recently. It is still banned in the EU and other parts of the world. Apparently, studies have shown that 0.5g of allulose per kg of weight can cause all the symptoms I experienced. When there are 9g of allulose in each serving, that means that with 3 bowls, and being a smaller female, I ate the dose that this study shows causes severe gastrointestinal issues, diarrhoea and headache. I really don't understand how this can be marketed as a food when eating a few bowls causes such severe issues. Usually, I am pretty pedantic about looking at ingredients and reviews for new purchases, but for some reason I didn't do that with Magic Spoon. My bad. I paid a hefty price, and am still in recovery. I hope my review prevents someone else from poisoning themselves with this stuff. I have to say, the idea of Magic Spoon is actually awesome. Just needs tweaking in terms of the sweetener used (and possibly the seed oils, which aren't great either), and flavour profiles.