Is There a Coffee Shortage Brewing? + FDA Warns Against Cooking Chicken in NyQuil

Coffee inventories in South America are declining so severely that reserves are predicted to be extremely low, but can we expect a coffee shortage? In this episode of the Xtalks Food Podcast, Sydney talks about a potential coffee shortage as prices have been volatile in recent months. However, the situation is predicted to get even worse in the weeks ahead as Brazilian coffee exports hold on to their supplies to drive up prices. She discusses both the environmental and economic factors contributing to the shortage and the fact that coffee giants like Starbucks, Lavazza and Costa will absorb the price hikes and pass them on to the customer. The team wondered whether lab-grown coffee and other alternatives to traditional coffee will help curb future shortages of the popular commodity.

Also, in this episode, Sydney talks about the latest dangerous TikTok challenge of cooking chicken in NyQuil. The FDA issued a stern warning to address the disturbing challenge, which encourages participants to cook chicken in NyQuil and other over-the-counter (OTC) cold medicines. While consuming too much NyQuil can be dangerous on its own, the agency also stated that simply heating up the medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Sydney discusses the origins of the challenge and some potential reasons why TikTok users are participating. The team wondered why TikTok and other social media platforms don’t condemn or remove these videos sooner and whether participants have a low risk threshold or simply don’t understand the dangers associated with these types of challenges.