Virginia man drinks Wendy’s sweet tea. Then he takes the lid off the metal tub and realizes what’s inside

Whenever you decide to have a meal or drink at a restaurant, diner, or fast-food establishment, you place trust in the staff to make sure everything is safe for you to consume.

But according to one Wendy's customer on TikTok, you probably shouldn't place that trust in the chain so freely.

In a recent video posted to his account, @codeduh, the user showed what could possibly be an unsettling image of one of the chain's soda machines.

Uh, what's inside this Wendy's tea dispenser?

In his video, which got over 78,200 views, the TikToker films as he approaches a sweet tea dispenser at a Wendy's.

“My dad just drank this… sweet tea,” he says, showing the top of the dispenser with the lid off. “It has mold growing on the top of it.”

The surface of the sweet tea has some white specks on it, which the TikToker thinks is mold.

He clarified that this was a Wendy's restaurant and also provided the exact location in the caption.

“@Wendy's he drank it and said it was disgusting it left a nasty unpleasant smell on his cup as well,” he wrote. “25403 Lankford Hwy Onley, VA 23418 United States is the Wendy's.”

Is it really mold?

It's not clear whether the debris-like white specks shown in the video are mold or something else.

They could be residue from the tea-brewing urn, food particles that somehow ended up in the dispenser, cleaning residue, or one of many other possibilities, some of which may be harmless.

Subplot News has reached out to Wendy's for more information.

Viewers offer up other theories

Viewers with some experience working at fast food restaurants weren't convinced this was mold.

“Only way that could be mold is if that was old tea that's been sitting in the walk-in for weeks witch is very unlikely since Wendy's count everything 3 times a day,” one wrote. “Most likely that's tea made this morning stored in the cooler and when it was low they poured new inside making the bubbles if it is mold that whole restaurant should be dirty is never eat there.”

“One time when I worked at Whataburger, we were slow and my friend (who previously worked at CFA) offered for us to clean the fountain drink machines,” another said. “We'd never done it before while at CFA it's done nightly. The amount of black stuff that came out… and even after cleaning, it j kept coming out in little flakes…. I don't eat fast food anymore and I'm tryna go to restaurants less often.”

“That's not mold, those are ice tea bubbles,” a third wrote.

But the creator responded, “Definitely not bubbles.”

Drink fountains in fast-food restaurants aren't always the cleanest

Drink fountains at fast-food restaurants don't have the best reputation.

Experts have also advised consumers to be cautious in the past. Matt Taylor, director of food safety consulting at NSF, told Food Republic that these machines “can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not properly maintained.”

He suggested customers look for visible residue or buildup around the machine and cups before using one.

Wendy's locations specifically have also received soda machine cleaning-related comments during health inspections in the past.

According to inspection records published by the Asheville Citizen Times, a Wendy's at 585 Merrimon Ave. in Asheville, North Carolina, was cited in 2007 because its ice machine and soda nozzles needed cleaning.

In 2017, an inspector even noted “minimal mold growth” in the chute of the drink machine. Then again, in 2018, an inspection noted evidence of pests underneath the soda station in the dining area.

Another Wendy's at 265 Smoky Park Highway in Asheville received multiple comments between 2002 and 2007 about drink nozzles needing cleaning.

At a Biltmore-area location, an inspector also noted dried buildup around the nozzle of a customer self-service drink machine.

@codeduh

Subplot News has reached out to Wendy's via email and the TikToker via direct messages for comment.

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