The prebiotic soda Olipop has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years, in part because of the brand’s heavy presence on TikTok. But recently, a viral TikTok has raised concerns over what exactly Olipop fans have been drinking this whole time.Â
Olipop’s “healthier” take on sugary sodas — “a new kind of soda,” according to the Olipop website — has caused the brand to skyrocket. According to Bloomberg, Olipop is set to hit $500 billion in sales this year, after hitting $200 billion in 2023.
But a new viral video may cause a slight hitch in the brand’s growing success. On July 1, TikTok user @lainebullinger posted a video of her and her boyfriend pouring an Olipop drink into a glass and finding large chunks of what appears to be mold in their Olipop can. (Fair warning, the video is pretty gross.) The couple proceeded to cut open the can to find an even more concerning substance in their soda.Â
“We never thought we would be the people to get something gross in their can,” Laine said in the video. The couple also explained that from the moment they bought it, the drink was refrigerated and in a sealed container the whole time before it was opened, leaving them wondering what caused the substance in the first place — and where that substance came from.Â
When asked for a comment on the TikTok video, a representative from Olipop told Her Campus, “OLIPOP is committed to maintaining the highest quality standards for our products and we take customer safety and any quality concerns very seriously.” The rep noted that all OLIPOP manufacturers are audited and meet Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards for food safety and quality, as well as the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Code of Federal Regulations. The rep also added, “OLIPOP formulas and processes are reviewed by an FDA-approved third-party process authority to ensure there are no food safety or quality issues. OLIPOP tests every single batch of its product at a third-party accredited laboratory to ensure products have been properly processed.”
Further, a rep from the company told The Daily Dot, “Our Quality Assurance team is looking into the details, including production codes and other identifiers, from the customer to understand and address any issue. Based on the initial review, we have found no issues from the batch with the lot code provided by the customer.” The rep also promised, “We take customer safety and any quality concerns very seriously and we will take any actions necessary.”
Indeed, on July 5, the couple posted a follow-up video saying Olipop reached out to them. However, they still did not offer an explanation regarding what the substance they found was or how it got there. The couple is currently looking for labs to send a sample of the substance to find out what was actually going on inside their drink.Â
As of July 11, there don’t appear to be any other reports of similar findings in other Olipop drinks, so it’s possible this was an isolated incident. However, fans of the beverage naturally want to know what happened so they can avoid any run-ins with mysterious substances in their cans.
One comment on the video suggested the substance looks like kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) that went bad. Mold growth on SCOBY is actually rare, but can occur where the culture is exposed to oxygen or where there is contamination in the fermentation process. However, unlike kombucha, Olipop is prebiotic, rather than probiotic. This means it doesn’t actually contain any live bacteria — rather, it’s simply meant to help to fuel the healthy bacteria that’s already in your body. Thus, the substance found in this can must have some other explanation.