A video of a man who was caught adulterating watermelons is being shared on social media (here, here and here) with a claim implying that he is a Muslim. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video shows a Muslim man adulterating watermelons.
Fact: The incident shown in the video is not real and does not have any communal angle. It is shared on a Facebook page called “Social Message” with a disclaimer in the video stating that it is complete fiction and all events in the video are scripted and made for awareness. The boy who is seen in the viral video also appears in other scripted videos on this page. In the intro of this page, it is mentioned that some of the videos posted are scripted and made for pure awareness and entertainment. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When the keyframes of the viral video were searched on the internet, we found a similar video posted on a Facebook page called ‘Social Message’ on 29 April 2024. At the 0:28 seconds mark in the video, a disclaimer was seen, stating that the video is complete fiction and all the events in the video are scripted and made for awareness.
Additionally, in the intro section of this page, it is stated that some of the videos posted on their page were scripted and made for pure awareness and entertainment. We also noticed similar scripted videos on their page. The person who is seen in the viral video is also seen in some of the other videos (here and here) published on this page.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has posted detailed guidelines for detecting adulteration of food materials at home. To detect if Watermelon is adulterated with Erythrosine colour, FSSAI suggests rubbing a cotton ball on the inner succulent part of the watermelon. If the cotton ball turns red, then the watermelon is adulterated. If there is no colour change, the watermelon is unadulterated and safe to consume.
To sum up, a scripted video of a man adulterating watermelons is being shared with a false communal angle.
