A British mother has revealed the extraordinary lengths she went to in order to solve the mystery of her daughter's disappearing school lunches, after becoming convinced another pupil was systematically stealing food.
The Lunchbox Swap Mystery
Chrissy, a mum from the UK, found herself facing an unusual schoolyard dilemma when her primary school-aged daughter began returning home with unexpected items in her lunchbox. The concerned parent soon realised that the food she had carefully packed was being secretly taken by another student and replaced with unwanted items from that child's own lunch.
After several days of investigation, Chrissy suspected one of her daughter's closest friends was helping herself to the more desirable packed food. When she reached out to the other child's mother to resolve the situation amicably, her concerns were dismissed with the insistence that her daughter "would never do that".
The Colourful Investigation
Left with no other options, the determined mum decided to take matters into her own hands with an ingenious plan to catch the lunchbox thief red-handed - or more accurately, rainbow-mouthed. "I'm going to try and prove it today," she announced in a TikTok video that would eventually amass seven million views.
The minute-long clip documented Chrissy's meticulous preparation of a decoy lunch. She cooked a small portion of penne pasta and then carefully filled individual pasta pieces with bright pink, purple and blue gel food colouring. To disguise the colourful trap, she spooned tinned tomatoes over the pasta and finished it with a sprinkling of grated cheese, creating what appeared to be a normal tomato and cheese pasta meal.
"I've told my daughter to look out for the rainbow mouth at lunchtime!" Chrissy winkingly wrote in her video caption. Importantly, she had also prepared an entirely edible second lunch for her daughter and instructed her to keep it hidden from the potential thief.
Viral Reaction and Glittering Conclusion
The video sparked enormous reaction from fellow parents, with nearly 900 comments flooding in. Many applauded her creative approach, with one declaring: "This plan is devious, I love it," while another joked: "Mother of the year award."
Although the rainbow pasta scheme didn't immediately identify the culprit, Chrissy persisted with a similar approach days later by sprinkling edible glitter inside a packet of crisps. This second attempt proved successful when the suspected child was found with glitter-covered hands by the end of the school day.
In follow-up comments, Chrissy clarified that her main concern wasn't simply the food swapping, but that her daughter was becoming upset about losing the treats she looked forward to. She also noted that the school provided free lunch services, countering suggestions that hunger might be motivating the thefts.
The story prompted numerous other parents to share their own experiences with lunchbox theft, including one who recalled: "My dad made a decoy lunch - put chilli in everything. My lunch never got pinched again." Another commented: "Someone stole my lunch every day when I was 7, so my mum made a sandwich with anchovies, dishwashing liquid and chilli."
While some viewers questioned whether the mother should simply pack extra food, many defended her approach, with one stating: "If a kid genuinely needs help with food, of course we should help. [But] if a kid is STEALING someone else's lunch, they deserve consequences."
