A smoothie is usually a quick, guilt-free snack between meals. For one New Jersey woman, though, it turned suspicious after a single sip, so much so that she poured it out to see what was actually inside.
TikTok creator Melissa (@melissaastevenss) went viral after sharing what she found inside a smoothie from Panera Bread, getting more than 2.5 million views.
She Pours the Smoothie Into a Strainer
In the video, Melissa dumps the smoothie into a kitchen strainer and then runs water over it. As the liquid drains away, solid chunks remain behind, clearly visible against the metal mesh.
Someone filming behind the camera reacts first. “Like, what the [expletive] is that?” the voice says. “That literally looks like parts of a blender.”
“Yeah, that’s gross,” Melissa replies.
The video doesn’t linger on speculation. It lets the visuals speak for themselves. What’s left in the strainer looks rubbery and uneven, nothing like fruit pulp or ice. In the caption, Melissa makes her warning explicit.
“Do not order from Panera Bread in Deptford,” she writes. “Ordered a smoothie & got a bunch of rubber in it!”
Other Customers Say This Isn’t New
Melissa isn’t the first Panera customer to find something unexpected inside a smoothie.
In one case, another TikTok creator filmed what appeared to be a white, plastic sheet-like material inside their drink. In a separate post shared on Facebook, a customer described finding something that looked like a plastic wrapper blended into their smoothie. On Reddit, a user claimed they once found a bolt inside theirs, sharing a photo of the discovery.
At this point, there’s no confirmed explanation for how rubber or plastic could end up in a smoothie like this. The most straightforward possibility is equipment failure or human error during preparation, but without an internal review, that remains speculation.
Commenters Don’t Brush It Off
The response to Melissa’s post leaned serious, especially after the official TikTok account for Panera Bread commented, “We take this seriously – Please send us a DM!”
“Panera is about to offer her a $20 gift card to avoid a $80,000 lawsuit,” one person wrote.
Another commenter claimed firsthand experience with Panera equipment. “I worked at Panera. That is ABSOLUTELY the bottom of a blender,” they wrote. “We constantly complained about them at my location and nobody ever replaced them. Do NOT just let Panera do whatever. GET YOURSELF A LAWYER.”
@melissaastevenss Do not order from Panera bread in Deptford. Ordered a smoothie & got a bunch of rubber in it! #panerabread #rubber #smoothie #wtf #deptford #nj ♬ original sound – melissaastevenss ?
Others weighed in with different explanations. “As a Panera manager, that’s definitely part of the lid,” one commenter wrote. “Not even the proper lid either. The rubber lids are used for making dressing. Hard lids are smoothies.”
Several commenters urged caution about how Melissa responds to the company. “Do NOT work with the company in this,” one person warned. “They will trick you into accepting a fraction of what you’re owed. Talk to a lawyer before you accept anything or say anything to them.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Melissa via TikTok messages and has also contacted Panera Bread via email.
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