A woman says that she’s blowing the whistle on a Dr Pepper plant after claiming to have experienced several health issues as a consequence of working for the company.
In a video with over 934,000 views, TikTok user @tacoraaaaaa recounts how, after accepting a job at a Dr Pepper plant, she ended up having multiple health issues. She says it led to her feeling as though she was going to die on the production floor.
She allegedly reported these issues to Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Tim Cofer and CLO Anthony Shoemaker. However, she says the company has responded with the “tactic” of “stall and delay,” meaning her claims haven’t been addressed.
What Happened at the Dr Pepper Plant?
According to the TikToker, she began working for Dr Pepper in August 2022. While things went well initially, they quickly took a turn for the worse after she was moved to the line visible in the video the next month.
“By October, I could not breathe. I was literally on the production floor dying,” she says. The line in the image behind her appears to be covered with dark brown splotches. This could be mold, mildew growth, biofilm accumulation, or simply residual grime and dirt. “I brought my asthma pump because I do have asthma…I literally thought I was gonna die on the floor.”
Not knowing what was happening, she visited multiple hospitals. According to the TikToker, upon arriving at the first hospital, “the ER doctor, she basically said if I hadn’t came sooner, that I was literally gonna die because the prednisone”—a drug commonly prescribed for asthma—“was only making it worse.”
She then had to have surgery in order to have a biopsy performed on her lung, informing her that she likely had lung cancer and would need additional, likely strenuous treatment to resolve it. The TikToker pushed back against this and demanded additional information and the ability to follow a different care plan.
Not agreeing on a plan, the TikToker was told to return to work. At this point, the hospital informed her that she did not have lung cancer but instead a “really bad lung infection.” It purportedly required three months of antibiotics to resolve.
“For the next three months, I was coughing up this green and black stuff out of my lungs,” she says. “It was just the worst time of my life.”
Things Get Weirder
A few months later, the TikToker says she was working on the aforementioned line when one of her headphones fell out and landed in “some brown clumpy stuff” that had accumulated near where she worked.
She cleaned the headphone to the best of her ability, then stuck it in her ear. A week later, she returned to the hospital with pericarditis, requiring her to be on heart medication for the next three months and miss work.
It was only after she returned to work following this incident that she realized that her workplace might have something to do with these health problems.
“When I came back to this line, it was like God spoke to me,” she explains. “God was like, ‘This is what you got sick from.’”
She Tries to Bring Up the Issue to Management
According to the TikToker, she attempted to resolve the issue with the company. However, they “denied everything and made it seem like I didn’t know what I was talking about, even though the FDA came in 2024 and basically said the same thing.” The Mary Sue could not confirm the validity of such an FDA visit.
The TikToker alleges that the FDA stated that the company was not “cleaning their surfaces correctly.” She further claimed that she was exposed to other jobsite issues. These allegedly included being recorded by a supervisor and being subjected to racist remarks.
“I wanted to resolve this privately, but they left me no other choice,” she concludes.
Is This Possible?
Watching her video, some may wonder if her claims about potentially getting a lung infection from her workplace is possible.
In short, it is. There are numerous documented cases of people contracting pneumonia from their workplace, and bacteria, mold, and fungi are known culprits for occupational lung issues.
As far as her headphone incident is concerned, the connection between this and her pericarditis cannot be established without further information. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the cause of pericarditis is unknown in “up to 90% of cases.” That said, a recent infection, such as the lung infection experienced by the TikToker, appears to increase one’s chances of getting pericarditis.
@tacoraaaaaa #eeoc #whistleblower #fyp #storytime #unsafeworkingconditions #fda #blackwomenatwork #drpepper ♬ original sound – tacoraaaaaa
Viewers are on her side
In the comments section, users expressed disgust at the apparent state of the bottling plant. They called on the TikToker to take further action against the company.
“So I was the lead sanitation tech at Dr Pepper in Sacramento. Idk if this is the same location. But that machine is called the warmer,” alleged a commenter. “If not properly cleaned and drained every night this is how you end up with that mold growth. The machine is like a huge dishwasher for the cans to rinse dirt and debris. It has to be drained and foamed inside and out.”
“I have an allergy to mold since I was a kid and when I drink Dr Pepper, my throat always closed. I thought it was just the ingredients,” added another. “Now we all know why.”
“This is not just a dr pepper problem. welcome to US processed food,” declared a third.
The Mary Sue reached out to Keurig Dr Pepper via email and @tacoraaaaaa via TikTok direct message and comment.
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