Meet the man who is so addicted to the taste of microbeads that he squirts FACEWASH all over his cereal every morning
As ministers debate banning the miniature plastic balls for good, you can bet that Sam will be at home scoffing a breakfast chock full of them
MICROBEADS may be controversial at the moment, but there's one man who can't get enough of the dubious substances.
Sam Lewis is an extreme eater who squirts facewash on his cereal... because he loves the taste of the tiny beads you can find in the lotion.
Sam, a business studies student at Plymouth University, loves to spruce up his morning bowl of Coco Pops with a dollop of facewash, and can't go without his daily microbead "hit."
And as ministers debate banning the miniature plastic balls for good, you can bet that Sam will be at home scoffing a breakfast chock full of them.
The 21-year-old lad said his unusual dietary habit started out as a dare, but now he can't imagine a breakfast without the added crunch.
He said: "My friends said I should put them on my cereal so I did. I couldn’t believe how good it tasted.
"They taste best on Coco Pops, they add a really great texture like the crunchiness of sugar that doesn’t dissolve.
“I sort of wash the facewash off the beads.”
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Unsurprisingly, Sam's unusual habit could be harming his health, and he says the beads sometimes cause his stomach to ache after a meal.
He said: “I haven’t really looked online at the health implications – I’m not that bothered. They just taste kind of good!
"My mum doesn’t know about it yet because I don’t live at home. I think she’s probably going to be pretty mad about it."
Government plans to phase out the polluting beads won't even come between Sam and his favourite topping, since he plans to stockpile facewash before the ban is enforced.
He said: "Obviously, the ban means I won’t be able to feed my addiction, which is a real worry. But I’ve got a plan to stock up on facewash and make sure I’ve got a big stash.”
Many cosmetic companies plan to phase out use of the tiny beads, which are often found in facewash and toothpaste, because of the impact they have on marine life.
There are also concerns that microbeads can damage teeth if they are included in toothpaste.