A UK doctor is going viral on TikTok after warning coffee lovers not to buy pre-ground coffee as it might contain traces of cockroaches.
Dr Karan Rajan said ground coffee often includes a percentage of cockroaches and other creatures in the ingredients – and should be avoided by those with allergies.
Most coffee beans are infested with insects before they are harvested, and although they are thoroughly cleaned during processing, a small percentage of bug parts, including cockroach remains, are allowed to stay in the food per authorities, Rajan said.
“Pre-ground coffee, like you get in most stores, contains a certain amount of cockroaches. A certain percentage of coffee beans become infected with cockroaches and other insects. Usually, they can't be processed out completely. So they just get roasted and ground up with the coffee beans," he says.
@dr.karanr Coffee & cockroaches #coffee #bug #learnontiktok #schoolwithdrkaran #sciencefacts
♬ Steven Universe - L.Dre
With more than 3 million followers on TikTok, the British doctor quickly gathered a stream of comments from thousands of people who were “scared” of the revelation – while others insisted it would not stop them from getting their daily coffee fix.
A user wrote: “How dare you ruin our coffee in the morning?"
Another wrote: “You're telling me I have been drinking the very thing I am terrified of my entire life?"
Others, however, said they would not stop drinking coffee, with one saying: “Never knew cockroaches tasted good.”
Another commented: “Nothing wrong with a little extra protein in your coffee.”
According to pest control company Rapid Pest Solutions, what Rajan is saying is sad but true. They reveal that the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) studies show that up to 10% of green coffee beans (and sometimes more) become infested with roaches and other insects.
That they are unable to process them out completely, so they just get roasted and ground up with the beans, and that it is a well-known fact that the FDA allows a certain amount of bug parts in our food as long as it doesn’t exceed a certain percentage.