A Southwest Florida woman claims she found what she thinks was mold inside of a sealed container of rice pudding, and it's forced her to completely change her eating habits.
Ravenn Gossett of Bradenton told Four In Your Corner she no longer eats packaged or processed foods. A Snapchat video she recorded moments after opening the container captured Gossett's reaction to what she believes was mold.
"Omg, I just bought this and there's [expletive] mold in it," said Gossett in the social media video.
She says she purchased the rice pudding from a gas station convenience store in Bradenton.
"I would never expect any foreign object to be inside the sealing. So the fact that it was this big! It means it have to have grown in there," said Ravenn Gossett.
The rice pudding is manufactured by Raymundo's, an Illinois-based manufacturer of predominately refrigerated snacks and desserts. The company's CEO Rick Alavarez says their rice pudding is cooked to a certain temperature over a set period of time in order to kill any, and all microbes.
“To make sure that all microorganism will not survive it is packaged hot into the cup, then immediately goes into the cooler and then it gets packaged, said Alvarez.
According to Alvarez, their products are temperature controlled from the time it leaves their manufacturing plant to the moment it to the retailer. However, once the products are delivered to the retailer, it's the retailer's responsibility to maintain proper temperature and storage conditions.
Due to where the alleged mold grew on the rice pudding Alvarez believes someone may have tampered with the packaging.
“So that tells me there was probably a pinhole or there was a seal integrity issue where air penetrated to the rice pudding, and that’s why the mold would have grown on the top of the rice pudding,” said Alvarez.
