Dutch influencer always has to poop when shopping at Albert Heijn — and scientists explain why

Poep happens 🤷‍♀️

For the past five days, the Netherlands has been captivated by a nationwide debate about… the bowel movements of a Dutch influencer.

TikTokker and singer Rhodé Kok’s video about her pooping habits has garnered over 800,000 views, prompting thousands of Dutchies to share which public places inspire their intestines the most, reports the AD.

Stimulating supermarket trips

It all started due to Kok’s candid question to her 1.2 million TikTok followers: “Why do I always have to poop when I’m in Albert Heijn?”

@rhodekok

zeg alsjeblieft niet dat ik de enige ben

♬ origineel geluid – Rhodé

In just over one minute, Kok explains how she can go up to five days without going number two, until she goes for groceries in the famous Dutch supermarket chain.

READ NEXT | Best supermarkets in the Netherlands: the international’s guide

Then, right when she’s “standing there with a big basket full of stuff,” her bowels decide to awaken, to her annoyance.

“What’s in that air there? I’ve had it too often to call it a coincidence,” she wonders.

The TikTok’s caption reads, “Please don’t say I’m the only one.”

A common predicament

Kok is, indeed, not the only one in this sh-, ehm, unfortunate situation.

Thousands of Dutchies have chipped in in the comments agreeing with her, thanking her for her honesty, and sharing their own intestine-inspiring public places.

READ MORE | Dutch Quirk #36: Charge people for public toilets

The official Albert Heijn account, too, entered the debate. “We just like big groceries,” they joked.

Why does this happen?

But is there a scientific explanation for this strange phenomenon? On Saturday, Flemish science journalist Martijn Peters gathered a few expert theories on this topic in another TikTok video.

READ NEXT | Dutch Quirk #81: Have toilets with an inspection shelf for their poo

In the video, which already has over 160,000 views, Peters explains that this strange effect is known as the “Mariko Aoki” phenomenon, owing to the name of the Japanese journalist who first shed (shat?) light on it in the 1980s.

Since then, scientists have made several hypotheses but never seriously researched the matter.

@martijn_peters Heb jij hier ook last van? En in welke winkel? 😅😁😁 #askmartijn #wetenschap #science #edutok #tiktoknl #weetjes #feitjes #fyp #health ♬ Funny video "Carmen Prelude" Arranging weakness(836530) – yo suzuki(akisai)

One theory, for instance, blames the squatting-down movement people make to reach the lower shelves, and all that walking between aisles.

Another theory cites the stress and overstimulation of doing groceries in a supermarket.

READ MORE | Cheapest supermarkets in the Netherlands: the ultimate guide in 2025

Finally, some scientists blame the human brain, either for causing bowel movements precisely due to the anxiety of knowing there are no nearby toilets, or due to looking for connections when there are none, turning a simple coincidence into a pattern. 🚽

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Feature Image:DutchReview
Beatrice Scali 🇮🇹
Beatrice Scali 🇮🇹
Five years after spreading her wings away from her beloved Genova, Bia has just landed at DutchReview as an editorial intern. She has lived in China, Slovenia, Taiwan, and — natuurlijk — the Netherlands, where she just completed her bachelor’s in International Studies. When she’s not reciting unsolicited facts about the countries she’s lived in, she is writing them down. Her biggest dreams include lobbying the Dutch government into forcing oliebollen stands to operate year-round, and becoming a journalist. In this order.

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