A Target customer has accused the store of selling Nestlé Pure Life gallon water bottles contaminated with bugs.
In a viral TikTok video with over 1.2 million views, weight loss influencer Abby (@abbyswalkwithgod) tearfully shared her experience. She also filmed herself confronting a Target employee, claiming the water made her sick.
The store was located in Bayshore, New York.
Adding to her frustration, she believed she was making a healthy choice by increasing her water intake.
Did a woman find maggots in her Nestlé water?
“I’m doing 75 Hard right now,” she said in the clip. “And I’m drinking a gallon of water a day.”
The “75 Hard” challenge, created by Andy Frisella in 2019, is a popular social media trend aimed at building mental toughness. Participants follow a strict regimen, including adhering to a diet with no alcohol or cheat meals, reading non-fiction, completing two daily workouts, and consuming a gallon of water daily.
The content creator said she purchased and drank multiple gallons of Nestlé Pure Life until she finally noticed one had maggots in it.
“I went to go open a gallon and there were maggots all under the seal,” the woman said through tears.
She thought that maybe the issue was only with one of the bottles of water.
However, when she got home, she checked the other bottles and they also had maggots.
Most upsettingly, the woman said she had already drunk them.
Maggots in water allegedly made woman sick
According to the woman, she had been sick for a few days.
She wondered if the water had something to do with it.
“I’ve been sick since Saturday, and I’m like, ‘What if it’s because of this?’” she said.
She decided to express her concerns directly to the store. The video’s caption explained that the store told her to bring the bottles in for a refund.
Abby also went to the hospital after finding the bugs in the water. She allegedly was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and given meds.
“Long story short, super inconvenient, in pain, traumatized, and just gross asf,” the caption read.
Some have shared the woman’s story, issuing warnings to anyone who drinks water from the brand.
Years ago, a North Carolina woman said she found insect larvae inside the seals of Dasani water bottles.
Coca-Cola responded by arguing it was “impossible” for the bugs to enter their product.
The Daily Dot reached out to Nestlé for comment concerning Abby’s claim.
@abbyswalkwithgod story time: doing 75 hard so went to target on Thursday 3/13/25 to buy my weekly supply of water gallons, easier to track water intake when it’s straight from the gallon. Saturday started to feel a little queasy in the stomach- thought it was just some kind of bug I caught- and it was … literally. I was drinking the water from Thursday up until monday morning at work when I took off the seal from the water gallon and noticed little brown spots on the part where your mouth goes (job has super bright lighting) looked closer and the brown spots started to move. Realized there were maggots and maggot eggs all over the mouth part of the bottle (WHICH WAS LOCKED IN THE SEAL!!!) went home to look at the other gallons i had already drank and was disgusted to see they all had the same little brown spots (now no moving ones) I have been ingesting maggots water since Thursday. Contacted target girl told me to come in- didn’t have to bring the bug bottles- and she would give me a refund. I told her like I’m not feeling well and my $12 back isn’t going to fix the damage of having bugs in my body??! She told me that’s all they could do and they immediately took the bottles off the shelves and gave me the target guest services number to call. Was in the hospital yesterday with a d/x of gastroenteritis they gave me nausea meds and tons of fluids to try to get me to flush as much as I could and now I’m currently waiting because I also now have to do an ova and parasites test to get on an anti parasitic and flush my intestines out . Long story short, super inconvenient, in pain, traumatized, and just gross asf . @target @Nestle Pure Life Indonesia @Pure Life US @afrisella #fyp #NY ♬ original sound – Abby <3
Commenters respond
In the video’s comments section, many urged the woman to take legal action.
“Maggots are in my top 3 WORST things to ever exist. You handled this correctly . And probably way more calm than most of us would ! That woman who said there’s nothing else they can do!? BET & sue!” user CheaLynn wrote.
“Girl wipe your tears ITS PAY DAY,” user hailey-. luvvvvv said.
“Is yall coo???!!!!?!?she fuking drunk maggots girl i hope u sue my reaction would of been worse,” user b.marissaa commented.
The Daily Dot reached out to Abby by TikTok comment and direct message.
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