Mr. Beast’s Mold Controversy: Lunchtime Premiere Explained

Mr Beast’s Lunchly is the latest business venture from content creators to take the internet by storm. The snack packs contain Prime drinks, Feastables and allegedly another ingredient: mold. Let’s take a look at everything we know about Lunchly, the mold controversy, how the Internet is reacting, and how more influencers relate the situation to the economy.

Throughout 2024, Mr. Beast was at the center of controversy. Former employees and other content creators accuse him of lying to fans, organizing challenges and creating an unsafe work environment. Creator DogPack404 uploaded several videos detailing these allegations, which have garnered a total of 30 million views. One of Mr. Beast’s previous co-stars, Ava Tyson, was also reported to have had inappropriate interactions with minors, which caused fans great discomfort. Although Mr. Beast issued a statement cutting ties with Tyson, he has not addressed the remaining allegations at the time of writing.

Related article:Full Timeline of Mr. Beast Controversy – Ava Tyson, DogPack404, Rosanna Pansino

Lunchly is Mr. Beast’s latest business venture created in collaboration with KSI and Logan Paul. KSI is a YouTuber and rapper with 24 million subscribers. Logan Paul is a YouTuber with 23 million subscribers. Paul and KSI previously launched the Prime energy drink brand together.

Lunchly is a snack pack similar to Lunchables. Each package includes a Mr Beast Feastable bar, a Prime drink and a variety of main courses. Lunchlys currently come in three varieties: Turkey Stack ‘Ems, Pizza, and Fiesta Nachos.

After Lunchly launched on September 16, 2024, some buyers and content creators began reporting mold inside lunch packages. YouTuber Rosanna Pansino has over 14.5 million subscribers and is known for her food knowledge and cooking videos. On October 20, 2024 Pansino posted a video titled “I tried it for lunch… It was moldy!” where she opened several Lunchly products and found mold in the pizza-themed Lunchly. Creator DogPack424, who has 692,000 subscribers and is famous for his previous videos featuring Mr. Beast, was a collaborator on this video. Pansino’s videos and additional posts on X.com quickly went viral, racking up over one million views and 150,000 likes.

Pansino has previously spoken out about Mr. Bestia’s allegations of employee abuse and was even-handed he was interviewed by NBC on this topic. However, she wasn’t alone in her experience with Lunchly: more mold allegations surfaced in the following days. Streamer @aSpicyCow opened a lunch on Twitch to try to debunk Pansino’s video, but found the mold again during the live stream. Several TikTokers also noted evidence of unsafe Lunchly products. All the moldy lunch snack packets were purchased well before the expiration date and refrigerated immediately.

There is disagreement as to why Lunchly products appear to be susceptible to mold. Some speculate that the mold is related to improper application of the glue. Others note that the mold mainly appears on the cheese in Lunchly’s pizza, so it may be due to a lack of appropriate preservatives. Lunchly’s packaging mentions secret “epic ingredients,” but no one expected that.

According to Rosanna Pansino’s account on X.com: some Kroger stores classify Lunchly products as “discontinued.”

Mr. Beast has not yet responded to the Lunchly mold allegations. On October 24, 2024, Rosanna Pansino commented on this lack of response, saying:

Every day Logan Paul, KSI, MrBeast and Lunchly refuse to make a statement about mold in their food, which means another day their fans potentially eat mold.

– Rosanna Pansino

However, KSI and Logan Paul reacted to the situation. On the podcast, Logan Paul made a joke “Yes, I like my moldy cheese, brother.” He also posted on X.com criticizing users for attacking Lunchly over its health concerns when products from rival company Lunchables allegedly contain lead. A contextual statement added to the post by users states that the post may be misleading and that PRIME’s Ice Pop flavor “contains lead contamination reports from the ERC.” Meanwhile, KSI vented his frustration over the criticism of the DanTDM player on X.com, posting a video in which he asks passersby if they recognize him and says: “people in the real world don’t know him.”

DanTDM, xQc and iHasCupquake players have been vocal critics of Lunchly. Influencers and streamers, including Doctor Mike, Ethan Klein and Memeulous, also reacted to the controversial brand. Many criticize the snack’s marketing to young fans. Lunchly’s alleged unsafe ingredients have also been the subject of online debate.

DanTDM’s post on X.com about Lunchly currently has approximately 667,000 likes. Minecraft Star writes: “How will this benefit (Beast, KSI and Logan Paul) fans? It’s selling bullshit to kids who don’t know better than to trust the people who sell it to them. Do better.”

xQc has previously criticized Lunchly for its health issues and business methods. In one stream, he compared the company to larger corporations with controversial practices such as Disney and Nestle, saying he was grateful that people were holding creators accountable but should also remember to criticize anonymous, high-profile organizations. Expressing his opinion on the quality of the product, xQc called it a “disaster”.

Related article: xQc recalls the MrBeast lunch collaboration

Many other internet personalities have delved into entrepreneurship with varying degrees of success. VALORANT star TenZ became embroiled in controversy after collaborating with Finalmouse in 2023. However, Valkyrae and Ludwig made more successful moves. In 2024, Valkyrae founded Hihi Studios, an animation company. Ludwig also recently released Aether Rivals 2 through his game production studio Offbrand Games, which was met with mostly positive reception.

MrBeast popularized the trend of content creators starting companies and leveraging their audiences to ensure the success of their products. Now, as more and more creators look for unique ways to generate new sources of revenue, the world is paying closer attention to new ventures, especially those aimed at younger audiences.