I don’t know about you guys but I often lay awake at night thinking about all of the things I’ve accidentally eaten that were in fact, not food. After panicking about it for a good 15 minutes I then pop on my silly little face creams and get a restful 7 hours sleep knowing that despite whatever I’ve ingested, I’m still kicking.
For one New Zealand man the intrusive thoughts might be sticking around for a bit longer after he seemingly discovered a tapeworm in his burger purchased from fast-food outlet, Chicking. In a video posted to his TikTok account, @kingkoda888 (real name Daniel Bond) showed off a small, white worm-like creature wriggling around.
“This fell out of my burger,” he said in a voiceover on the video that has now amassed 26 million views. According to Bond, he first thought it was mayo before quickly realising something was amiss when it started moving.
@kingkoda888 do you know what the fk this is?? #alienvspredator #parasite #fromonownfoodchain #Auckland #NewZealand #whatisthis ♬ original sound – BONDY
I honestly don’t have the stomach to push on with this yarn but I will do it all in the name of journalism.
After crowdsourcing some intel on WTF that white thing is, plenty of users unanimously agreed it looked like a tapeworm – or at the very least half a tapeworm. Fun!
As one commenter apply put it: “I’m eating air for the rest of my life.”
Touchè.
It’s not known whether Bond had already ingested the other half of the tapeworm but regardless this kind of slip-up from Chicking feels totally liable. If you ingest a tapeworm (or a pinworm as other viewers speculated it could be) then you’re looking at some pretty nasty health side effects including liver or heart issues and a funny tummy at the very least.
Elsewhere, others are questioning the legitimacy of Bond’s claims with Kiwi news outlet Stuff.co.nz poking holes in his wormy tale.
According to their reports, Bond contacted Chicking looking for compensation for the snafu. Initially an employee allegedly offered him free food and $500 as recompense, both of which Bond declined. The employee apparently then offered $1000 before Bond countered with a $10,000 lump sum to be payed into his bank account.
Chicking did not make good on Bond’s requests and he went public with their name by posting another video to TikTok outing the franchise.
Oh and it gets messier. Stuff then pulled out the big guns and interviewed a specialist in parasitology from the University of Otago’s Department of Zoology to verify if Bond’s claims hold up from a scientific perspective.
“I cannot see how the worm could have got into a burger, it would not survive cooking,” said Professor Robert Poulin.
@kingkoda888 @lyric! @Chicking New Zealand @Auckland Council #xyzcba #xyzbca #fyp ♬ original sound – BONDY
Well, Bond didn’t take too kindly to Stuff’s article and responded with another TikTok video fighting back against their claims.
If you’ve still managed to keep your breakfast intact, congratulations. At this point it has become a war of words between Bond and Chicking but whoever is in the wrong, let this be a cautionary tale. If your mayo is wigglin’, it might be time to simply *never step outside again*.
