Fact Check: Video showing colouring of apples makes a false claim that it is being done in India
Fruits are a good source of vitamins and minerals, recognized for their role in preventing deficiency of Vitamin A & C.
Claim :
Harmful colours are being added to apples in India, making them attractive but dangerousFact :
The video is not from India, it does not show coloring of apples in India
Fruits are a good source of vitamins and minerals, recognized for their role in preventing deficiency of Vitamin A & C. People who incorporate fruits and vegetables in their diet have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Fruits are an important part of a healthy eating pattern and the source of many vital nutrients, including potassium, folate (folic acid), and antioxidants including polyphenols. Apples are one of the most popular fruits in the world and are the fourth most widely produced fruit globally. Apples are high in fiber, vitamin C, and various antioxidants. They are also very filling, considering their low-calorie count.
Many people are careful about eating apples as they might have pesticide residues on their skins. To avoid this, peeling the apple before consumption is the best option but peeling apples can reduce the nutritional value.
A video of a person painting apples red is going viral on social media with the claim that the apples we are buying from the market are being colored artificially. The video is in circulation online with Telugu text “మీరు తింటున్న యాపిల్ కి రంగు
The claim was viral in June 2024 also, with a claim in English. The caption on this video reads: “Get ready to have Apples with beautiful harmful color coating and help the Doctors/hospitals through Medical bills.”
Fact check:
The claim is False. Upon observing the video, we can see that there is no stalk on the apple being colored. The apples available in the market always have stalks on them. Here is the screenshot.
We also noticed that the sacks seen in the background have Chinese characters on them and not English or any other Indian language. This shows that the video is not from India.
Upon performing a Google reverse image search on the extracted keyframes from the video, we found that a few news websites published photo stories stating that the video was not from India.
According to a story published by Business Standard: ”We have seen women wearing makeup. but in this video, the makeup of "apple" is being done. In the video, a shopkeeper has been seen coloring apples with an artificial red color, people are often crazy about red apples, so is this the real truth of those red apples, by coloring apples like this, the apples start looking fresh and attractive. But this video is not from India because in this video some sacks can be seen behind which is written in the Chinese language.”
Even TV9 Bharatvarsh also published a web story, stating that if we observe the video, we can see that the video is not from India, as Chinese language can be seen on the sacks in the video. Here are a few other videos online that show similar technique of painting apples. In these videos also, we can see that the apples did not have stalks.
Hence, a video that shows the coloring process of artificial apples, which is seen in foreign countries like China, is being shared with false claims that harmful colors are being added to the apples in India, making them attractive but dangerous. The video is not related to India. The claim is False.
