You may have seen a video online in the past few days showing Lipton Lemon Green Tea bags being ripped open to reveal “live worms.”
But breathe easy, tea lovers; Lipton shot down the video’s claims in a recent Facebook post.
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The video in question was posted Feb. 20, and has garnered more than eight million views.
“These are worms inside, living worms,” Ismat Raza from Islamabad, Pakistan says in the widely shared video.
She says she first discovered the worms “two days back” and has since opened additional tea bags from several boxes.
“Sadly it is in each and every tea bag of lemon-flavour green tea.”
In the video Raza pulls pieces from the bag’s contents and declares “these are worms.”
Not so fast, Lipton says, providing a statement along with a video to debunk the wormy claim.
“In response to the video of Lipton’s Lemon Green Tea bags, there are no ‘worms’ in our tea bags. These are small lemon flavour pieces which have been mistaken for worms.”
“If you put these lemon flavour pieces in hot water they will dissolve, as you can see from this video. The tea is of the highest quality standard and is absolutely safe to consume,” says the statement, posted Tuesday.
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In a video posted to its Facebook page, Lipton shows its Lemon Green Tea bags being opened and removal of the “worms,” which are placed in warm water and shown dissolving.
If that doesn’t calm your fears, Lipton invites consumers to contact them for further assurance.
“If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-457-7095 or consumer-services.canada@unilever.com.”