Video of Man 'Spitting on Food’ Does Not Show 'Corona Jihad'

We could trace the video back to April 2019 which clarifies that it has nothing to do with the current situation.

The novel coronavirus has claimed over 50 lives in India and infected more than 2,000 people.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

CLAIM

A video is being circulated online with a claim that a man is spitting on food with the intention of spreading coronavirus.

The claim with the reads, “Corona jihad. This guy is spitting into the food he's packing for you.”

An archived version of the post can be viewed here. (Source: Facebook)

Another Facebook post reads, “ #muslim #chef spitting in #food. Muslim cook is spitting in food. Not saying all Muslims do this, But only way is to #boycottMuslims.”

An archived version of the post can be viewed here.(Source: Facebook)

A user named Anil Chauhan posted the same video with a caption.

An archived version of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook)

An archived version of the tweet can be found here.(Source: Twitter)

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WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We searched on YouTube using keywords ‘Restaurant worker blowing into food’ and came across a video titled, “Restaurant worker caught blowing into papadam packets - angry food lovers !”. A YouTube channel, Vanakkam Malaysia, uploaded the video on 26 April 2019.

Taking cues from this, we further searched on Google with keywords ‘worker blowing into papadam packets’ and came across an article by Feed me Malaysia titled, “Watch: Mamak Staff Blows Air and Saliva into Papadum Bags, Enrages Netizens”.

The visuals in the article match with that of the viral video and it is dated 1 May 2019.

The video was also circulated with another claim that the visuals are from Clementi West Street 2 Block 724 in Singapore.

You can find an archived version of the post here.(Source: Facebook)

However, the Singapore Food Agency took cognisance and clarified that the video was not from the place mentioned in the claim.

“Our investigations found that there is no such food shop at the said location. Our officers also inspected eating houses and food establishments in the vicinity but did not find any stall with the same or similar names,” the statement read.

Screenshot of the post by Singapore Food Agency on Facebook.(Source: Facebook)

Although we have not been able to confirm where the incident took place, since the video is old it can be confirmed that it’s not related to the current coronavirus situation.

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