Trick or Treat? One Customer Discovered an Unexpected Visitor in Their Trader Joe’s Candy

Trader Joe's has come under fire recently after issuing not one, not two, but three separate recalls after several products were found to have the potential to contain rocks and bugs. First, two types of cookies in the store were recalled after they were found to possibly contain rocks. Last week, another product, frozen falafel, was recalled for the same reason. Plus, cases of soup were recalled for potentially containing insects. It's enough to beg the question—what is going on with Trader Joe's, and more importantly, its suppliers?

Well, last week a post in a Trader Joe's fan forum on Reddit went viral after a customer discovered something unexpected in their Fruity Gummy Candies. I know what you're thinking—what kind of horrific bug-rock-hybrid cluster could it be? Don't worry—this surprise is less stomach-turning and more entertaining. Behold:

"Found gummy hippie man in my fruity gummy candy bag." That's how the recent Reddit post starts. "What is it from?" the user pondered.

Of course, the comments popped off. People chimed in, noting at least it was in the "best flavor" (mango) and piling on the jokes; "[It's a] Willy Wonka-type golden ticket. You win a Hawaiian shirt!" Many hilariously pondered whether it was indeed a "hippie man" or the titular Trader Joe himself. "That's him. That's Joe," joked another.

But the real intrigue began when one user commented with a link to an Instagram post by a German candy brand, with no other context.

The user is, of course, insinuating that these Katje's "Peace & Love" gummies, which are sold in Germany, are the source of the aforementioned gelatinized gentleman. This is where it gets interesting.

Since Trader Joe's almost exclusively stocks private-label products—meaning the store puts its own label on products from other (sometimes name-brand) suppliers—customers are constantly theorizing about the source of its products. In fact, there's an entire tag on the Trader Joe's Reddit page dedicated to guessing the store's suppliers for certain products.

As for these gummies, as one particularly astute user pointed out, "Most likely same supplier of different products got one item in a bag by accident." And apparently, it's not the only gummy gaffe that's occurred with Trader Joe's products.

"I found a Sandy from Spongebob in my Scandinavian Swimmers once," another user commented in the thread.

Trader Joe's is notoriously secretive when it comes to revealing its suppliers, but these little slip-ups—as well as recalls—give some away. So it's more than likely that the supplier behind Katje's gummies is also supplying TJ's with its Fruity Gummy Candy bags. Since the beloved grocery chain doesn't include artificial colors or flavors in its products, and many tend to be vegan, there are likely only a handful of suppliers that could be behind its confections.

Trader Joe's likely won't confirm or deny these allegations, but one thing is for certain—this surprise is a heck of a lot sweeter than insects or pebbles.