Most people don’t think twice about grabbing a Snickers or another candy bar from the checkout line when at a store like Dollar General. At worst, it might be a little stale—but not something that’ll actually make you seriously sick. For one woman, though, a quick snack turned into a miserable night.
TikTok user Tammy (@thetammywjones) says both she and her husband, Jeff, ended up sick after eating a Snickers bar from their local Dollar General.
In her video, which has more than 1.7 million views, Tammy wrote in an on-screen caption: “Dollar General candy made us terribly sick! PSA I wouldn’t wish this on anybody, especially children. Spread the word.”
She started the video by saying, “Jeff and I are both really sick.” She adds that they believed it came from eating candy they’d bought at the dollar store.
Too ill to type out a full post, she explains, “I’ll spare you the ugly details, but we’re both sick as h—. And I think it’s from this candy.”
She inserts a photo of her holding up a mini Snickers peanut butter bar. In the background, M&Ms and more Snickers are seen.
Can You Get Sick From Candy?
Technically, yes—though it’s rare.
Chocolate and peanuts, the main components in both candies, are generally safe even a little past their expiration date (as long as you’re not allergic). But storage conditions matter.
Also, if the peanuts or chocolate were contaminated during production or shipping, that could cause illness.
It’s important to note that Mars, the company behind Snickers and M&Ms, has only had a couple of major recalls. In 2016, Snickers bars were pulled from 55 countries due to plastic found inside.
M&Ms, on the other hand, once issued a recall when their milk chocolate variety might have contained peanut butter, posing an allergy risk.
While Tammy’s symptoms could have been from the candy, other possibilities—like a virus—can’t be ruled out. BroBible contacted Mars for comment.
@thetammywjones #dollargeneral #candy made us terribly sick! #PSA i wouldn’t wish this on anybody, especially children. spread the word
The Woman Shares An Update
In a follow-up clip, Tammy says both she and Jeff are now feeling better.
“Both of us are up and in the land of the living,” she tells viewers. She thanks them for their support.
In another video posted shortly after, she wonders if they’d actually had a virus, since their dog was now showing similar symptoms.
Commenters Share Their Thoughts
In the comments, people shared their own experiences with bad or expired candy.
“My dad works for the Mars chocolate factory, and he comes home and tells my mom and I stories about how sometimes peanuts have to be recalled because of their exposure to salmonella or other illnesses,” one user shared. “He works in quality control as well as working on making candy more efficiently so it’s not uncommon for there to be sicknesses linked to processed nuts.”
“That store always gave me somebody buying expired oversea food that’s expire and repackaged it !!!” another claimed.
“I stopped getting candy from my DG cuz it was always old, stale and seemed like it had melted before. It’s prob bad,” someone else said.
“My food lion sells gross MT Dew that has things floating in it and when I showed them they didn’t care. Just kept on selling them.”
BroBible has reached out to Tammy via TikTok direct messages. We also reached out to Mars via contact form and to Dollar General via email.