Ohio woman buys a box of Ritz crackers. Then she pulls them apart and finds stringy, hair-like fibers inside: ‘Y’all need to recall this product now’

Finding something in your food that shouldn’t be there is never pleasant, as one woman recently discovered when she found a gauze-like material in her Jimmy John’s lettuce. Now, Chenelle (@somer_rain on TikTok) shares a video showing a possible problem with Nabisco’s Ritz Crackers after she bought a box with unusual fibers connecting the crackers inside their plastic sleeve. With an expiration date of January 2027, the crackers should have been fine.

Chenelle removed the crackers from the sleeve and broke them to show the camera how the pieces have fibers connecting them. She tagged both Nabisco and specifically Ritz Crackers in the description of her video and wrote, “Ya’ll need to recall this product.” While Chenelle didn’t know exactly what the fibers were, commenters were quick to provide possible answers.

Rope spoilage seems to be the most likely explanation

One commenter simply wrote, “That’s rope spoilage.” Chenelle replied that she looked into what rope spoilage is, and she believes that its description matches what she sees in her crackers. Many others also replied that they’ve never heard of rope spoilage, turning the video into an educational moment about food safety.

Rope spoilage can be found in any baked good, and it’s been known for over a century, according to Food Safety News. Basically, the acidity and water levels of baked goods create the perfect conditions for this bacterium (B. velezensis) to grow.

Interestingly, B. velezensis is often used as part of growing wheat. It can inhibit fungal pathogens and even promote wheat growth. The problem is that it can survive the wheat being milled into flour and then also survive the baking process. As a result, items baked using flour carry the risk of rope spoilage.

If you’re concerned, however, you can take steps to avoid spoilage by following recommended baking practices, such as making sure you don’t undercook items and letting them cool properly. There’s also the option of buying breads that are so processed that they don’t spoil at all, such as Great Value white bread, which one woman tested to see if it was fake.

Manufacturing issues offer an alternative explanation

While rope spoilage seems to be the likely explanation, as Chenelle is able to observe the crackers in person and believes it matches what she sees, there’s also the possibility that the fibers are from the manufacturing process. Specifically, they could be from worn and fraying components shedding threads into the crackers prior to them being baked.

The possibility comes from an old thread on Reddit that BroBible found while covering Chenelle’s story. The user posted an image of what appears to be Wheat Thins that have fibers in them, similar to the Ritz Crackers. In this case, commenters claiming to work in food manufacturing suggested that the fibers are frayed threads from conveyor belts.

Either way, it’s best not to eat food that has unknown fibers in it. If it’s rope spoilage, you have the risk of food poisoning. As for conveyor belt threads, it’s likely still better to avoid eating them, even if you might not get sick from them.

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