A Starbucks customer claims she found a massive bug inside her cup of matcha. The worst part was she had already drunk more than half of the drink.
Bren (@brenlee.spamzzz) filmed the contents of the matcha latte and shared the video to TikTok. The clip went viral and received 4.6 million views before being taken down.
“Starbucks I’m suing you,” Bren writes on the text overlay of the video.
The video is short and simple. It opens with a shot of the Starbucks cup that is about a quarter full of a matcha latte drink. But there is also an unidentified black thing in the cup.
As Bren moves the camera closer, she screams as the black object comes into focus. It appears to be a large, furry moth in her matcha latte.
What do you do if you find a bug in your Starbucks drink?
If you are unfortunate enough to find a bug or anything else that shouldn’t be in your Starbucks drink, you are well within your rights to return it. According to the company website, if a customer is unsatisfied with their drink, they just need to let the barista know, and they will remake it.
Bugs served at Starbucks
Starbucks previously used to use cochineal, a red dye made from crushed beetles, in some of its drinks and food. While the red-dyed products made up a small percentage of Starbucks’ offerings, customers were horrified to hear about the use of bugs in their food and drinks.
After vegetarians and other animal rights activists made their displeasure known, the company decided to switch to using a vegetable-based coloring in its products instead. “While [cochineal] is a safe product that poses no health risk, we are reviewing alternative natural ingredients,” Starbucks president Cliff Burrows announced.
Viewers are divided
Viewers were extremely dismayed by the huge bug in Bren’s Starbucks drink. Several reacted in the comments section.
“HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN AT STARBUCKS?? THEY LITERALLY MAKE THEIR DRINKS,” one viewer said.
“That can’t be an accident,” said another.
“This would send me into a heart attack,” wrote a third.
While the bug stirred up a lot of horror among viewers, plenty of them were skeptical about the Starbucks customer’s claim. A few viewers who claimed to be baristas at Starbucks claimed that it would be nearly impossible for an entire moth to be in the drink.
“Y’all we blend our matcha, that would not be in one piece if this was real,” wrote one doubtful viewer.
“As a former Starbucks barista I’m really trying to understand how this would’ve happened,” said another.
“She probably placed in there because people don’t have empathy… the barista would’ve noticed the [moth],” replied someone else.
The Daily Dot reached out to Bren via Instagram direct message and to Starbucks via email.
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