TikTok Users Are Grossed Out by Soda Fountain Machines

One woman took to TikTok after she noticed that some type of particles started to form in the water she had gotten from the soda fountain.

Aug. 22 2023, Published 12:27 p.m. ET

If you love soda, listen up. Apparently, getting soda or really any beverage from a soda fountain machine isn't always the smartest idea. You see, one TikTok creator took to the platform to explain what happened after she went into Arby's to get water from the soda fountain.

What happened, exactly? Let's just say that the water changed in the worst way possible. Keep reading for all of the details. You might think twice before you get a fountain drink again.

"If I ever try to drink from one of those machines that has the touch screens where you select your drink ever again, then somebody shoot me. I will never do it again," said a TikTok user named Brynn (@brynnnniethepooh) in a video.

She explained that her car was recently having issues so she went into the fast food restaurant to get some water. She filled up an empty plastic jug with water and after taking what she needed and left the jug in her car.

"This has been sitting in my car for about a week," she said as she held up the jug, which seemed to contain some type of reddish-brown particles.

"I don't know what is in there," she remarked, claiming that "they're like spores."

Brynn further explained that when she initially filled up the jug, there was nothing inside of it that may have interfered with the water.

"I don't know if it's from the machine. I don't know if it's from sitting in the heat, but I ain't never seen water do that so something ain't right," she said as she ended her video.

In her caption, she corrected herself to note that she had gotten the water from Wendy's and not Arby's.

Viewers had all sorts of things to say about Brynn's sus soda fountain water.

"My mom was the ONLY one who ever cleaned the soda nozzle where she worked and it was caked with mold when she started ... guys clean the nozzles," remarked one user.

Another, who claimed to work for Coca-Cola wrote, "Looks like syrup lines were mixed into the water lines. Water could have had sugar in it. Need a line replacement/flush/sanitize."

"A third user commented, "I get water from a natural spring on the side of the road and I've found bottles a year old in my car that were clear. Looked/smelled fresh."

Weirdly enough, a lot of folks also had some positive things to say about one fast-food chain, which allegedly keeps its soda machines in pristine condition — Panera Bread.

"This comment section making me think I should never ever get a fountain drink from fast food places except for Panera Bread because they’re safe and clean," read one comment.

Stitching Brynn's video, TikTok creator @just_be_sovereign recounted an experience he had with a soda fountain machine that made him never want to drink from one again.

He explained that a couple of years ago, he was working for a construction company and they were remodeling a restaurant and bar.

"As we were ripping out the old bar and the old soda machine, all of those plastic little pipes ... the plastic tubing that they use to spray out your fountain drink, all of them, each one of them, was filled with mold like you've never seen," he said.

And on that note, I'll be opting for canned and bottled beverages only, please!