Oklahoma woman eats half a can of La Costeña beans. Then she looks down at her fork: ‘What kind of animal is this?!’

An Oklahoma woman went viral for claiming she found a nipple in her beans.

On Nov. 16, Autumn Galik (@autumngailk) posted a video showing viewers what she believed was an unusual animal part in her beans. The video has amassed 21.3 million views as of this writing. 

What Did Galik Find in Her La Costeña Beans?

“I swear to God I found a nipple in my beans,” Galik said.

In the video, Galik digs through the can of La Costeña beans. She then shows the camera what she believes is a nipple. “What is this animal?” she asks. 

“I would have loved to be warned that there were nipples in my beans,” says Galik. 

The specific can of beans Galik shows are La Costeña’s charro beans, which contain bacon, chicharrón, and chorizo.  

Many commenters were quick to point out that Galik’s discovery was likely because the specific type of beans she purchased contained chicarron. “I was disgusted until you showed the can,” wrote one viewer. “Chicharrón is pig skin. It’s a pig nipple.”

What Is Chicharrón?

Charro beans are a traditional Mexican-style pinto bean stew. As sold by La Costeña, the stew combines beans with smoky flavors like bacon, chorizo, and chicharrón. The company explicitly lists the latter on the ingredient label as fried bacon skins with natural smoke flavor alongside the other meats and seasonings.

Chicharrón refers broadly to fried pork skin or pork rind. The food item is sometimes just the skin puffs, and other times it has bits of fat or meat attached. The dish originates in Spain. It is ubiquitous across Latin America, where people may cook it crisp and light or chunkier with meat still on it. In the context of processed foods like canned charro beans, chicharrón typically appears as small pieces of seasoned fried pork skin or rind that companies add for richness.

How Likely Is It That a Nipple Could Have Been in Galik’s Chicharrón? 

Given how companies make and process chicharrón, finding a literal nipple inside a can of beans is extremely unlikely. Pork nipples are anatomical features that are attached to the pig’s belly, not standard cuts that companies use for rinds or fat in commercial food processing. Commercial chicharrón ingredients are most often rendered, diced pieces of skin and fat that companies use to impart flavor and texture. Any larger shapes would likely be accidental scraps or misidentified meat fragments from the preparation process.

If what Galik found resembled a nipple, it’s far more plausible that it was an oddly shaped chunk of pork skin, fat, or perhaps even a piece of chorizo or bacon rind. All of these can vary in size and shape depending on how companies cook and can the beans and meat. Processing lines aren’t perfect, and sometimes irregular bits of meat or skin slip through. They may look strange out of context, especially to someone unfamiliar with what chicharrón can look like once softened and coated in bean broth.

AllHipHop reached out to Galik for comment via direct message and La Costeña for comment via email. We will update this story if either party responds.

@autumngailk ♬ original sound – AUTUMN

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