An American grandfather became a viral sensation on Friday after he'd accidentally consumed half a can of paint, mistaking it for a tub of yoghurt.

According to Alex Stein her 90-year-old grandfather, known on Instagram only as Bobby, absolutely adores yoghurt, Daily Mail reports.

"When I say he loves yoghurt, he lives for yoghurt," Alex told Mail Online. "My mom buys at least seven quarts [nearly seven litres] of vanilla Danon yoghurt a week," the New York resident added.

Stein shared the photo of her granddad with mint-green lips as well as a picture of the half-empty paint can, captioning it: "Sooo my grandpa ate half a quart of paint today thinking it was yoghurt."

The post received more than 486 000 likes on Twitter.

Stein later posted a screengrab of a video chat between her and her grandfather with the caption: "Update: his stomach's completely unfazed," The Sun reports.

The comment section was flooded with suggestions of what flavour the 90-year-old thought he was eating, with mint chocolate chip and pistachio the most mentioned.

According to Metro UK, Bobby is aware of his newfound fame and has explained his version of events on an Instagram page that was set up after his picture had gone viral.

"Apparently I ate paint this morning . . . s**t honestly tastes better than yoghurt sooo #no #regrets (poison control laughed at me, but they said I'll be fine)," the grandfather wrote.

His Instagram bio describes him as "90 years young . . . Single & reDy to mingle.

"Paul McCartney doppelgänger. Hobbies include talking about Tom Brady, dancing shirtless and making messes!"

Sources: Daily Mail Twitter The Sun Metro UK  Instagram