Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Maggots are the last thing Melissa Ranger and Shirley Mills thought they would find in a box of Girl Scout Cookies.
“It's just simply gross. Especially alive and crawling and I mean, it's just as bad dead, but when they're moving and you're watching this,” Ranger explained. “There was like three or four of them in here and I know it's sealed because that's the first thing I looked for, to see if it was sealed."
It was Wednesday afternoon when one of their roommates wanted a snack and grabbed a couple boxes of Girl Scout cookies out of the fridge and brought them over to the table. While munching on a Do-Si-Do, she looked down at the Thin Mints and saw the maggots.
Little Brownie Baker, a subsidiary of Kellogs, makes the cookies. It says any insect infestation had to have happened during the distribution process, which Kellogs says is beyond its control. A representative explained this to Mills and Ranger over the phone.
“The temperatures that we make the cookies at, they would completely disintegrate. They would be melted. They would be gone. They wouldn't even survive,” the representative said.
In a statement, Little Brownie Baker goes on to say: “While our distributors take many precautions to prevent this, scientific evidence shows that insects can penetrate properly sealed packages.”
The women aren’t seeking money and have no ill-will toward the Girl Scouts. They just want others to be aware it could happen to them.
"I'm hoping that they check what's out there and people look in their boxes because I don't want to see one of their kids be chewing on a live maggot,” said Mills.
Kellogs is reimbursing the women for all 10 boxes they purchased – even though they say just one box was affected.
Girl Scouts of NYPENN told NewsChannel 9: “We would like viewers to know that this was an isolated incident and we stand by the product. Girl Scouts will be at various locations throughout the month of March participating in the cookie program that funds their year-round activities. We hope the community will continue to support the girls and the skills they are learning from this program – goal-setting, decision-making, people skills, business ethics and money management.”
If you have any questions about Girl Scouts or the cookie program call 698-9400.
