Right, so does ground coffee genuinely have cockroaches in it?

Every so often a new theory crops up on the internet that has people baffled. Remember when there was that rumour that you could taste things with your *you know what*? Or how about that brief period where everyone was obsessing over where vanilla essence came from? Well, the latest peculiarity to pervade the internet – making its way over to TikTok where people are simply horrified – is the claim that preground supermarket coffee has cockroaches in it.

I know. Absolutely mortifying. But does preground coffee actually have ground-up cockroaches in it? Am I drinking cockroach juice every time I enjoy a hot cup of Joe? Are cockroaches intentionally added to coffee for flavour? Here’s everything we know about how cockroaches do, or don’t, end up in your cup of coffee.

@dr.karanrCoffee & cockroaches #coffee #bug #learnontiktok #schoolwithdrkaran #sciencefacts♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre

Are there cockroaches in my coffee?

The last thing you’d want in your coffee is the ground-up remnants of insects in there, and it’s probably the last thing you’d expect too… which makes it even more horrifying that there is indeed truth to this rumour.

We’ve all seen videos of green tea bags being split open to reveal small worms (if you haven’t, watch this video at your own risk), but it turns out that not many manufacturing processes are free from the occasional critter getting involved in the party.

Still looks banging

The reason for cockroaches in coffee is that any process, from chocolate production to coffee, relies on large amounts of stock waiting around before being processed into the products that we enjoy – so it’s pretty likely that a number of undesirables are going to end up in there too.

There are several well-documented instances of people with allergies to cockroaches (after having worked in close proximity with them) becoming ill from drinking coffee. In fact, The Mirror claims that at one point up to 10 per cent of ground coffee could consist of insects as well as their excretions, causing people to become unwell. Absolutely terrifying.

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