Yes, that’s a specially programmed feature. When a player is too pog, the game takes over and throws the cactus food beyond death so that the player has to defy death and reach the next level. (sounds of beginner programmer frantically typing conditionals and smashing head on keyboard…)
I have not been able to fix the bug on itch where the cactus spawns off-screen. I originally programmed the game in p5js editor, where it works without the bug if anyone wants to play it there: https://editor.p5js.org/chronomatopoeia/full/hz6rBbLZC