A woman on TikTok asked other viewers for help figuring out what creepy crawler infiltrated her pantry—specifically her red pepper flakes and oatmeal.
TikTok user and Tampa-based food blogger Nicole (@iamahoneybeeblog) posted the dispatch, which has amassed 6.2 million views, from her kitchen five days ago. She starts the video by acknowledging the pantry items scattered about the room. “This is what my kitchen currently looks like, because we had to empty everything out of our pantry,” she says. “I’ll show you why. I have a question and I could use TikTok’s help cuz this is terrorizing me.”
Nicole proceeds to pick up a container of red pepper flakes. Clearly, the viewer can see tiny bugs crawling around inside with the pepper flakes. “What the [expletive] kind of bug is this?” she asks. “Why are there 500 million of them in our red pepper flake? I’m terrified to see where else they are. We found them in the oatmeal. But why are they here? Why are they in the red pepper flake? It is spicy.”
She continues, “Does anyone have any idea what this is? This is gonna haunt my dreams.” In the caption, she writes, “She continues, “help! what is this and how the [expletive] do I make it go away!?!?!?!?”
This situation is not unlike a story from last month, when another TikToker mysteriously found large brown spiders inside her pot of crawfish. Some users identified the spiders as a species that is often caught along with crawfish and should be discarded during the cleaning process.
In the comments section, viewers quickly came to consensus that Nicole and her family are the victims of a weevil infestation. The tiny beetles are known for feeding on—and, unfortunately, reproducing in—pantry staples like rice, corn and beans.
@iamahoneybeeblog help! what is this and how the hell do I make it go away!?!?!?!?
♬ original sound – Nicole- I am Honey Bee
As one user put it: “as soon as I heard pantry n saw the word bug. I knew it was weevils.”
A second user wrote, “Never heard of weevils before and now I’m terrified.”
A third user suggested, “Weevils. They get into everything. Throw it all out & get sealed containers.”
According to WebMD, “Although destructive, these pests don’t poison the food they eat. However, they can infest all the grain in an elevator or bin if the conditions are right.” In order to rid yourself of a weevil problem, you can basically do as Nicole and her family are doing in the video—which is to empty out and vacuum the pantry, and then toss out any containers with weevils inside. Some more serious infestations might require a professional pest control visit.
The Daily Dot reached out to Nicole via email for comment.