Capri Sun Worm Hoax Debunked

One of the things that parents love about Capri Sun is that it is a drink which contains no preservatives. This means that it has a limited shelf life, like other natural foods. It also means that the manufacturing process is subject to the same risks of exposure that other fresh foods face. If you leave bread out for long enough, it will develop mold. The same is true for a Capri Sun. If the juice is exposed to air inside of the pouch, it is possible for mold to develop inside the drink.

Could there be worms inside the juice instead of just mold? Those claims are based on what people are seeing inside of their drink or pulling out of their mouths have consuming juice through the straw. It’s not a worm. That much is a hoax.

If It’s Not a Worm, Then What Could It Be?

In a word: mold. Have you ever noticed how mold forms on a liquid? It has a certain substance to it, but there’s also a certain flexibility. As the fluid moves about, the mold seems to float on top of the surface of the liquid.

Now imagine putting a straw into that liquid where mold is floating on top of the surface and sucking it all up. The physics would require the fluids at the bottom to be brought into the straw first, reducing the levels of the fluid. As more fluid is removed, the mold on the surface begins to approach the straw. Then, because it is still flexible and there is air pressure coming from the sucking on the other end of the straw, the mold enters the straw and begins to travel upwards to the person’s mouth.

When the mold emerges from the straw, it still has a certain cohesiveness to it. This means that it will retain the shape that it was forced into as it went up into the straw. That’s why visually it looks very much like a worm. In practical terms, however, it is just mold.

How Does Mold Form In a Sealed Juice Pack?

Mold needs to have air in order to form. This means that the juice pack will have lost some of its integrity for the mold to begin to form. A micro-puncture would be all that is required for this to happen, so if there are juice packs being handed out to kids, it is a good idea to check them for these small punctures first. Squeezing them gently will place pressure on a sealed micro-puncture and force a thin stream of juice out.

If it isn’t mold, then there is the possibility that it could be a fungus as well. Fungi are able to grow in the same way that mold is able to grow and there is the possibility that this could also begin to grow inside of the pouch and make it seem like there is a worm that is present. Although the thought of a strange fungi in a juice pouch may be a little off-putting, it is the price that is paid for a drink that doesn’t have preservatives.

There are no worms inside of a Capri Sun juice pack. The manufacturing process makes this an impossibility. Punctures in a juice pack may cause mold or fungi to grow and that might look like a worm, but that’s all it is.