Man buys cereal from top US store – eats entire bowl before finding the food expired 21 years ago

COLORADO: A man said he bought a box of cereal from Walmart and ate an entire bowl before finding that it had expired in 1997.

The couple identified as Josiah and Anthea Carelse of Lakewood said they bought the box of Quaker 100 Percent Natural Granola cereal from the Walmart in Littleton on Monday and they later sat down to eat some of the breakfast food.

Anthea Carelse said she took only a couple bites before deciding something was off about the taste, but Josiah ate an entire bowl.

“I just started eating and thinking, ‘It just tastes funny. It must be OK,'” Josiah Carelse told KMGH-TV.

The couple said it wasn’t until after Josiah finished his bowl that they noticed the “best by” date on the box.

“It looks like February 22, 1997,” Anthea Carelse said.

The couple went online and verified the box did not look like Quaker’s current design for the cereal, and the product they purchased indeed appeared to be a full decade older than their 11-year-old daughter, Layla.

“We just grabbed this off the shelf and yeah… 21 years old,” Josiah said.

The United States Department of Agriculture said “best by” dates are voluntarily printed by manufacturers.

The matter is being investigated by the store.