Report: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Causing Some Panicked Post-Bathroom Trips to the ER
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A popular snack item is causing an upswing in emergency room visits across the nation – all because of a rather disturbing, but generally harmless, side-effect from all the red food coloring.
According to a report from CBS News, doctors say that the red food coloring in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos can turn the stools of people who eat a large quantity of the spicy snack red or orange, leading to fears about internal bleeding and some panicked trips to the ER.
“Food such as beets or red peppers can make stool appear red, however it is not actually blood in the stool,” said Dr. Robert Glatter, an ER physician at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York City, told CBS News.
Experts say that other foods heavy in red food coloring, such as red velvet cake, can cause a similar effect. However, experts warn that the change in stool color can be a sign of unhealthy over-indulgence in the high fat and sodium snack.
