Three years ago, parents needlessly rushed their children to local emergency rooms, panicked over the less-than-natural color of the kids’ bathroom output. The culprit, however, was not a medical problem but instead Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Now, it looks like we could be revisiting that trend with the launch of Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch Cheetos, which uses the same pesky red food dye.
Foodbeast reports that Cheetos’ latest snack made its debut on store shelves this week after first being introduced at the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago last month.
The snack, which were expected to launch in July, aim to combine America’s love of ranch with their equally deep affection with Flamin’ Hot seasoning — whatever that might be.
While we’ll have to wait to gauge the popularity of Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch Cheetos, if they do catch on, could we be in for round two of a red-hot poo scare? It’s possible.
Related: Peeps Oreos & 7 Other Things That Turn Your Poop Strange Colors
A look at the nutritional listing for the new snack shows it also contains artificial flavors, including red food dye, the additive that some medical professionals have linked to vibrant, blood-like red stools.
Back in 2012, when snack-happy kids were chowing down on Cheetos’ original Flamin’ Hot chips, scores of parents began rushing their kiddos to area hospitals after noticing something disturbing in the toilet.
At the time, medical professionals told CBS News that the red food dye contained in the snacks could turn stools red or orange, if the snacks were consumed in large quantities.
Despite the scary appearance of the waste, doctors noted there wasn’t really anything to worry about.
“Food such as beets or red peppers can make stool appear red, however it is not actually blood in the stool,” an emergency medicine physician for a New York hospital, told CBS News at the time.
We’ve reached out to Frito-Lay for comment on the new snack. We’ll update this post if we hear back.
In the meantime, it appears that Cheetos lovers are ready to try their hand at the new snack.
flamin' hot cheetos gotta new flavor called Chipotle Ranch. I think they did something
— Princess
(@KWanted_) June 6, 2017
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist