What would you do if you bit into what should have been a gooey chocolate-covered treat and suddenly came upon a hard foreign object? And then you report the object and suddenly the chocolate company has to halt production?
That’s what happened to one Trader Joe’s customer who posted a viral TikTok of her experience reporting the issue to the company.
In the video, Ellen (@whatsanellen) explains that a few weeks ago, she found a nut that she believed to be a peanut in her chocolate-covered raisins from Trader Joe’s. She figured she should report the issue because many people have nut allergies, so she sent the company a message and immediately heard back from “headquarters.”
“They were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we are so sorry about that. Let us get you in touch with the chocolatiers who make this,” Ellen reports.
The head chocolatier of a Los Angeles chocolate company then emails Ellen and calls her several times in a row. She tells Ellen, “Here’s the deal: We don’t have peanuts in our facility. We only have almonds, so we think it’s an almond. But we need to test it, so we need you to save this peanut and send it to us.” The woman says she will send Ellen shipping materials so she can send the nut back. She also tells her that the company would like to give her a gift card for her trouble.
Ellen received the packing supplies in the mail the day she made her video. She says the supplies came with a $20 bill, which was slightly disappointing as she thought a chocolatier gift card would be more “fun.”
“I’m not complaining, but I do think it’s sort of hush money, and I’m not in that business,” Ellen says.
Trader Joe’s also offered to send a gift card for her trouble, but she has yet to receive it. She is unsure whether she should remind the company, and how she would do so without losing “aura points.”
Ellen adds that the head chocolatier called her eight times because the company had to halt all chocolate production until it tested the nut she found.
‘I love how seriously they took this!’
In the comments section, viewers commended Ellen and the chocolate company for taking the situation so seriously on behalf of people with allergies.
“OK, but seriously as a mom of a kid who has a severe nut allergy thank you for doing the Lord’s work,because he loves chocolate covered raisins from Trader Joe’s!!!” user Nicole wrote. “I threw ours out just now!!!!!”
“It sounds like they care a whole lot, which makes sense,” user Jordan Sell commented. “FDA fines for mislabeling are incredibly serious. they probably need to find out which supplier isnt holding up the standards.”
An apparent Trader Joe’s worker also chimed in, writing, “It’s crazy cause they did have us pull the raisins off the shelf while they investigate.”
@whatsanellen WARNING TO ANYONE ALLERGIC TO ALMONDS! Do not buy the chocolate covered raisins from @Trader Joe's #fyp #fypシ #traderjoes ♬ original sound – Ellen
Customers keep finding things in their Trader Joe’s food
This is not the first time a Trader Joe’s customer has found a foreign object in their food. As the Daily Dot reported, one customer found a goat head thorn in the bean, rice, and cheese burritos she bought from the store. Additionally, a customer found maggots in their $12 ribeye, and another found a worm in their salmon.
The Mary Sue contacted Ellen via TikTok comment and direct message. It contacted Trader Joe’s via press contact form.
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