Fact check: Bubble tea is made with tapioca pearls, not goat feces
The claim: Photos show a drink containing goat feces
Wet markets in China are known to sell wild animals, including bats, lizards and scorpions. But a popular post on Facebook claims feces is also on the menu.
The post, published Nov. 29, includes two photos with black, spherical substances immersed in liquid.
"Goat Faeces (sic) ... is now on High Demand In China .. it is said to be rich in Protein and Cure to most Health Problems," reads the post's caption. "It is mixed with Soya Milk and Fruit Juices."
The post accumulated more than 10,000 interactions on Facebook within 11 days. Other versions of the claim gathered thousands more.
Fact check: Extremely unlikely to overdose on coffee, but rapid caffeine consumption has risks
But the photos show tapioca pearls, not goat feces. The small, edible balls, produced from a starch extracted from the cassava root, are used in bubble tea, also known as boba tea.
Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.
Photos show tapioca balls
The images featured in the social media posts come from a food blogger's Instagram account.
User Buangbunno posted the photos June 10 and identified the location as Young Tea & Coffee. The cafe is located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
According to Instagram's translation, the caption reads "pearl of milk tea." The images feature containers and drinks filled with tapioca balls.
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the late 1980s, according to Food & Wine magazine. Milk tea was already well-known, and shaved ice and tapioca balls were common desserts. The three were combined to create bubble tea.
The beverage can be made to order with several choices of tea and bubbles, from standard tapioca balls to popping boba, which has juice inside.
Special access for subscribers! Click here to sign up for our fact-check text chat
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that photos show a drink containing goat feces. The beverage in the photos is bubble tea, which is made using tapioca pearls.
Our fact-check sources:
- World Economic Forum, April 18, 2020, What we've got wrong about China's 'wet markets' and their link to COVID-19
- Reuters, Feb, 16, 2020, 'Animals live for man': China's appetite for wildlife likely to survive virus
- Huff Post, July 13, 2015, So What Exactly Is Tapioca, Anyway?
- Bungbuanno, June 10, Instagram post
- Taipei Times, Nov. 13, 2018, Who invented bubble tea?
- Food and Wine, June 6, 2017, A Brief History of Boba
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.