Father Claims 6-Year-Old Son Found Bullet In Cheetos Bag

It seems like the hottest food trend of 2021 so far is finding bizarre foreign objects in packaged foods. Weeks after the viral Cinnamon Toast Shrimp Tails phenomenon, Frito-Lay has rocketed into the news cycle after a 6-year-old boy allegedly found a bullet in his bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

The boy's father, Buford Horn Weasel of Elmo, Montana, has been making the media rounds, speaking to both TODAY and TMZ about how his son found the unwanted prize at the bottom of the bag. Horn Weasel said he had purchased the Cheetos at a Montana convenience store on Saturday and his child ate half the three-ounce bag. The next day, when his son was done polishing off the Cheetos, the Horn Weasels were surprised with a spent bullet coated in electric red Hot Cheeto dust.

""He just picked it up and asked his mom what it was, but I'm pretty sure he knew," Horn Weasel told TODAY. "He grabbed it and then he showed his mom and said, 'Mom, look at the bullet.' And she freaked out, you know?"

Horn Weasel did eventually notice a small tear on the bag by the expiration date, but it's unclear whether that was present at the time the Cheetos were purchased.

Horn Weasel emailed Frito-Lay in addition to contacting the company on Facebook; shortly afterwards, representatives from the company reached out to say they're launching an investigation, and would be sending him a kit in order to run tests on the bag and bullet.

"This situation is highly unusual and troubling, and we have already taken steps to investigate and attempt to identify the root cause," said Frito-Lay in a statement sent to TODAY. "We appreciate Mr. Weasel bringing this to our attention and will continue to work with him to resolve this matter."

Horn Weasel said that while he owns a hunting rifle, the bullet is too small for his gun and had likely been fired from a pistol. He told TMZ that he is not seeking any sort of compensation from Frito-Lay; he just wants to figure out how the bullet ended up in the bag and make sure things like this don't happen again. Looks like the public isn't as enthusiastic about this foreign-objects-in-food microtrend as one might think.