Watching a fly land on something you’re eating or drinking can put you off taking another bite or sip. Flies do have an affinity for feces, after all, so it’s natural to feel grossed out in this situation.
A fly recently had a Missouri farmer rethinking his beverage of choice for an entirely different reason.
Trent Doss (@walkinonwindsor4840) cracked open a cold can of the blue raspberry Sour Patch Kids Ghost Energy drink on a sunny summer day. Then along came a fly and landed on the top.
“I just watched a fly take a drink from the top of my blue raspberry Ghost here,” he says.
The Ghost energy drink seemed to immediately take effect.
As Doss watched, he says, “It sat there and rubbed its hands together for what seemed like an eternity. Then it leaned forward and rubbed its back feet together for the same amount of time.”
Finally, it took flight. But it didn’t make it far.
“Then it flew off and made one circle and made about a foot and a half and fell out of the sky and is laying dead down there,” he says.
Doss zooms in on the ground nearby. Sure enough, there lies a fly.
There’s no way to be sure what killed it, but Doss has a theory: “I think it had a heart attack.”
What’s in a Ghost Energy drink?
Ghost Energy drinks, including blue raspberry Sour Patch Kids edition, have no sugar, fat, or cholesterol. And at only 5 calories, it’s a low-calorie beverage.
Fans love Ghost because it packs a wallop of an energy boost.
Each contains 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, about twice that found in a cup of coffee. Any Java drinker knows that this isn’t a particularly large dose.
So why does it give you such a massive dose of energy?
Ghost Energy drinks have 1000 mg of Carnipure, a branded type of L-carnitine, an amino acid that helps your body turn fat into energy. They further contain 150 mg of alpha-GPC, a supplement used to increase cognition, and 100 mg of NeuroFactor, a patented supplement used to improve alertness.
Basically, every time you take a swig of Ghost energy drink, you’re ingesting four different substances meant to make your mind and body fire on extra cylinders.
But is it deadly?
Like all energy drinks, Ghost is safe for healthy adults. Children and people with certain heart, vascular, and other conditions are generally advised to avoid energy drinks.
There’s not much research into how energy drinks affect the common housefly, however.
But, as one person who commented on Doss’ TikTok noted, caffeine can be deadly to insects.
“Caffeine, found in energy drinks, acts as a natural pesticide and can be toxic to insects like flies at high doses, potentially causing paralysis, behavioral changes, reduced lifespan, and even death,” they wrote. “However, at low doses, it can sometimes increase activity or improve learning in certain insects.”
So while it may simply have been that fly’s time—they do only live upwards of a month or so, after all—it could also have been killed by the Ghost.
An unexpected advertisement
The death of the fly didn’t seem to put Doss off Ghost energy drinks. Quite the contrary, actually.
In the caption on his post, he playfully writes, “That’s how you know it’s the good stuff.”
User @kruckfarms agreed, writing, “That’s why I like them so much.”
Another person chimed in, “That’s a pretty good advertisement, unfortunately it’ll only work on people that already drink energy drinks.”
They’re not sure everyone will feel the same, though.
“Might scare the normies,” they added.
Doss didn’t immediately respond to the Mary Sue’s inquiry sent via TikTok direct message.
@walkinonwindsor4840 that's how you know it's the good stuff #DossFarms ♬ original sound – Ťŕēŋț Ɗø§§
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