‘Every time I think about it, I freak out’: Woman drinks roach from metro Atlanta QuikTrip coffee

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — LaRonda Robinson thought she would get her normal cup of coffee at the QuikTrip on Decatur Road.

A self-professed germaphobe, she grabbed a cup from the middle of the stack, to lessen the likelihood that it was touched by someone else.

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“I’m a germaphobe to the 1,000th power. I don’t touch anything without gloves or napkins,” Robinson said.

As she finished the last few sips, she says she remembers tasting a weird feeling in her mouth.

“At first, I thought the powdered creamer must have been lumpy. So let me use my tongue in my mouth to smooth it out, but that wasn’t working. So I said wait a minute, I didn’t use powdered creamer. I used liquid creamer,” Robinson said. “So I spit it out in the QT napkin, and it was a roach, and I just lost it.”

Robinson says she instantly started throwing up and went to the ER before filing a complaint with the Georgia Department of Agriculture about the bug.

“It died, probably getting burned up in the coffee, but how did it get in the coffee? How did it get there?” Robinson said.

Records obtained by Channel 2 Action News show that the Department of Agriculture inspected the QT the next day. While there, the inspector found live roaches and wrote:

“The store is aware of the problem, but it seems they have not taken adequate measures to address it.”

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In a statement, QuikTrip said:

“Creating an inviting and welcoming experience for our customers is one of our highest priorities and a hallmark of our brand that our customers have come to love and expect. Paramount to that experience is maintaining a high standard for health and cleanliness. When made aware that one of our stores was not meeting that standard, we immediately worked to address and mitigate the issue, which has since been resolved.”

The Georgia Department of Agriculture conducted a follow-up inspection on Tuesday, where the inspector found no roaches.

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