Fact Check: TikTok Video Claims to Show Bug-Infested Oreo Cookie. Here's What We Found

Claim:

A viral TikTok video authentically shows weevils and mites infesting an Oreo cookie when seen through a microscope.

Rating:

What's True:

The video shows no evidence of digital manipulation, and the weevils and mites it depicts are authentic pests commonly found in some types of food. However ...

What's False:

Some features of the video, including the weevils' behavior and the possible presence of mold on the Oreo, suggest that the video's creator intentionally placed the bugs on a cookie that had been tampered with, rather than filming an authentic infestation.

On April 11, 2024, TikTok user Micro Zoom Guy shared a video in which he placed an Oreo cookie under a microscope, revealing various bugs crawling in the snack. The original video had received more than 5.6 million views and been shared around 64,900 times as of this writing. Users on other social media sites including Facebook, X, and Instagram, have also shared the footage. 

The video does appear authentic in the sense that it shows no evidence of having been AI-generated or digitally manipulated. However, some features of the video, notably the behavior of the weevils and the possible presence of mold filaments on the cookie, suggest that the creator intentionally placed the pests on an Oreo that had been exposed to the elements for some time, as opposed to a cookie that had been freshly removed from its packaging.

In other words, the creator of the video appears to have staged the weevils and mites on a compromised cookie in a misleading way that falsely suggests that the pests are typically found on factory-sealed cookies. As a result, we have rated this claim as a "Mixture." 

We have attempted to reached out to the Micro Zoom Guy TikTok account to ask how he produced this video, and will update if and when we receive a response.

The brown insects visible in the video are weevils from the Sitophilus genus, which includes three common pantry pests: granary or wheat weevils, maize weevils, and rice weevils. Easily recognizable thanks to the long snouts they display in their adult forms, weevils of all three species reproduce by depositing individual eggs into holes they have chewed into grain kernels. Once hatched, each weevil larva spends around a month inside its kernel, which it uses as a food source during its maturation. 

The tiny, semi-transparent white creatures shown in the video appear to be members of a large group of similar species of arachnids collectively known as mold mites. Mites in this group are widely found in stored grain, flour, cheese, and other foods, although they do not eat these products. Instead, their diet consists of mold that flourishes on foods and ingredients stored in moist or humid conditions.

Laura Iles, an entomologist and the director of the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center, which is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, confirmed in an email to Snopes that the creatures seen in the video indeed appear to be weevils in the Sitophilus genus and at least one of the many types of mold mites. 

Iles also pointed out three features of the video that led us to conclude that the video's creator likely staged the clip by intentionally placing the pests on one or more Oreos and filming them in a way that misleadingly suggests they are typically found on the cookies. 

First, Iles noted that the weevils that appear at the video's 00:32 timestamp and in the below screenshot seem to be physically struggling in the Oreo's frosting center, which is not a food source or egg-depositing location the grain-focused insects would ever choose on their own. These factors suggest that the weevils were placed in the frosting intentionally.

(TikTok user @microzoomguy)

Second, Iles explained that the mites that appear in the segment starting at the 00:56 timestamp and in the below screenshot are shown moving around on a crumbly brown substance that is wet and contains small white filaments resembling certain types of mold.

(TikTik user @microzoomguy)

If the brown substance depicted in this segment is indeed a crumbled Oreo cookie, as the video implies, it appears to have been soaked in liquid and allowed to grow mold before filming — something that would certainly encourage mite activity but would also have the effect of making the cookie too unappealing to eat for most humans. As Iles noted, "A cookie that damaged is not good for human consumption for reasons beyond any mites present."

Third, Iles pointed out that the microscope Micro Zoom Guy is shown placing an Oreo underneath at the beginning of the video does not appear to be the same one used to actually film the footage. The microscope shown on camera is of a type that has its light source pointing up from below; it is meant for examining slides.

The microscope used to film the zoomed-in footage, on the other hand, has a light source from above. Another video by the same creator, which we fact-checked in March 2024, shows Micro Zoom Guy using a microscope Iles identified as the type more likely used to film the close-up Oreo footage.

Although the behavior of the weevils, the possible presence of mold on the cookie, and the question of which microscope was used all point to intentionally misleading actions on the part of the video's creator, it is worth noting that nowhere in the video does Micro Zoom Guy claim that the Oreo is fresh out of its packaging or that the weevils and mites are typically found on the cookies. He also made no such claim in the video's caption, which simply reads, "Tell me in the comments what my next video should be 👉."

For this reason, we have rated this claim as a mixture of true and false information.

Sources:

Izzo, Jack. "Real Video of Microscopic Bugs on Dried, Instant Ramen?" Snopes, 18 Mar. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/microscope-bugs-instant-ramen-video/.

"Mold Mites." Yard and Garden, https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/mold-mites. Accessed 19 June 2024.

Weevils on Stored Grain. https://extension.psu.edu/weevils-on-stored-grain. Accessed 19 June 2024.

https://pestsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu/Public/FactsheetWeb.aspx?ProblemId=841. Accessed 19 June 2024.