Three of the biggest YouTubers—Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson, Logan Paul, and Olajide "KSI" Olatunji—teamed up to launch a prepackaged kid’s lunch called Lunchly. The new business venture, which hit stores in late September, features a Lunchables-style meal that comes in three variations—Pizza, Nachos, and Turkey Stack ‘Ems—and comes with MrBeast’s Feastables Chocolate Bar, as well as Paul and KSI’s low-sugar energy drink, Prime. Paul touted the meal kit as a “healthier alternative” to their competitors, but a month after its launch, the brand has already faced some harsh criticism, including claims of it not being healthy enough for a child’s lunch and multiple allegations of customers finding moldy cheese.
The YouTuber trio have a combined subscriber count of 372.1 million on that one platform alone, not to mention their reach on other platforms like X, Instagram, and TikTok. Historically, these three creators' demographic has been young kids, so it makes sense that they’ve created products to cater to their fanbase. But as the weeks pass by, the product is gaining more and more scrutiny from YouTubers and experts alike. Doctor Mike, a licensed family physician and YouTuber, uploaded a video in September debunking the three creators’ claims that Lunchly was a “healthier choice.” Meanwhile, Rosanna Pansino, one of MrBeast’s most recent and frequent critics, posted a video of her trying the product. What she found was moldy cheese.
But Pansino isn’t the only creator to have claimed to find mold. Multiple videos circulating on social media show people who faced a similar issue. It wasn’t until recently that KSI and Paul spoke publicly about the criticisms. Most recently, Paul made a video attempting to refute claims made about Lunchly while pushing back against Pansino’s criticism. Here’s everything you need to know about the Lunchly controversy surrounding Paul, MrBeast, and KSI.
Lunchly quickly faces skepticism after release
The product officially hit shelves towards the end of September and quickly drew scrutiny. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul said in a statement that their “end game has always been to not only provide high-quality products, but also healthier alternatives” because they felt it was time to provide a “better option for those looking for a convenient, healthier choice.”
Soon after the product was officially released, multiple YouTubers took to social media to comment on these three’s latest business venture. Doctor Mike uploaded a video on September 23, disproving the creators’ claims that the Lunchly meal kits are a better lunch alternative based on the USDA’s recommended standards for school lunches. He explained that one of the packaged meals does not meet the USDA’s recommendation for minimum caloric intake for kids in kindergarten through grade 12, nor does it meet the requirement that less than 10 percent of calories should come from saturated fats and added sugars. His final verdict?
“It’s clear that Lunchly, just like Lunchables, misses the mark too many times to be considered meaningfully healthier, in my opinion,” he said in the video.
Pansino, one of MrBeast’s loudest critics, has uploaded multiple posts across her social media platforms criticizing MrBeast. She became a vocal detractor of MrBeast in October 2023 after she called him out for publishing a video of her participating in the “Creator Games,” which was allegedly edited to make her look like she performed worse than she did. She says she placed third during filming, but the video shows Logan Paul along with his fellow content creators Larray and Zach King in the top three. Since then, she’s kept up with all of MrBeast’s scandals and amplified them to her millions of followers.
When Lunchly hit the market, she bought the Nachos and Pizza options to film a taste test. On October 19, she published a video titled, “I Tried Lunchly… It Was Moldy,” and shared clips of her opening a Pizza Lunchly to find moldy cheese. The video has since accumulated over 1.8 million views on YouTube, sparking a response from both KSI and Paul. MrBeast has yet to release a statement regarding the allegations of mold.
Pansino is not the only creator who uploaded a video of their Lunchly with moldy cheese. Multiple TikTokers opened their meal kits to find mold inside of them, sharing their discoveries across social media to thousands of likes and millions of views.
A Twitch streamer named aSpicyCow livestreamed a taste test of the Lunchly product in an attempt to disprove Pansino’s claim of finding mold because they felt she was “clearly biased against MrBeast.” However, when they opened their package, they also found mold.
The whole reason I did this is because I did NOT believe the original source as she was clearly biased against mrbeast. So I wanted answers and bought every lunchly I could find 🤷♂️
I didn't expect mold, but i found mold
@FearedBuck
Streamer finds mold in Mr Beast, KSI & Logan Paul’s Lunchly while live on stream 👀 pic.x.com/GtV6Zd4wXv
KSI and Logan Paul respond, but not well
Two out of the three creators have released public statements regarding Pansino’s claims. During an October 23 appearance on Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, KSI addressed Pansino’s video, saying he used to have a crush on her but “not anymore.” Paul interjected, saying, “Now she’s talking shit about your company.” KSI laughed, and Paul added, “I like my cheese moldy, bro.” They all then laugh together. Pansino tweeted out the clip with a kissing face emoji. It’s hard to tell how serious anyone is taking the moldy cheese claims.
According to TMZ Sports, the FDA has received numerous complaints about Lunchly and will share updates as they have them. The products have not been officially recalled, and Paul uploaded a video further addressing the claims while lambasting Pansino along the way. In a video uploaded on October 27, Paul shared that the brand was not on the FDA’s recall list after a viral photo of a sign purporting that the FDA had pulled Lunchly products began making the rounds online. He also claimed to have tracked down the store where the photo was taken and spoke to the Fred Meyer employee in question who allegedly put the sign up and had someone from his team speak with him.
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Paul goes on to disprove that Lunchlys were being discontinued as many people, including Pansino, shared on social media that they were unable to find the Turkey Stack ‘Ems. He shared photos that seem to show the product on shelves and says that the team is ramping up production to meet the demand. Paul boasted about the attention the product is getting, so much so that he stated the Lunchly headquarters “had a bomb threat,” with the FBI allegedly finding out that the threat was made by a London-based individual. Additionally, Paul also lists the aforementioned “fabricated FDA recall,” and called Pansino “an attention-hungry little clout goblin who’s made it her entire identity to speak negatively on all things MrBeast.”
Paul ended the video by saying that he, KSI, and MrBeast are going to continue innovating and improving as they attempt to disrupt this “archaic industry that has been run by the same corporate giants for the last 120 years,” before adding, “the opps are gonna have to try harder.”