Videos are spreading rapidly across social media that purport to show anomalies with fruits and vegetables at grocery stores in the United States. Conspiracy theorists are citing the footage as evidence that our food is no longer real and has been tampered with by billionaire Bill Gates.
In a TikTok video posted to X, which has been viewed more than 23.2 million times, users are asked whether they are eating “Bill Gates FAKE FOOD.”
The video shows a compilation of clips from consumers complaining that items such as watermelon have a rubbery texture. Other fruits including bananas, avocados, and blueberries are shown as well in the more than 4-minute-long video.
The conclusion, according to the video’s narrator, is that the food is almost certainly “fake.”
Users on X immediately flooded the video with concerning comments, describing the clip as “dystopian” and evidence that our food supply has been “completely compromised.”
“I'll be returning all fake foods to the store I bought them from,” one user said. “If we all do this it will stop!”
Prominent right-wing users were quick to promote the claim as well, such as the podcasting duo known as the Hodge Twins.
“[T]his is like a horror movie y'all,” the twins wrote.
But it turns out there is an extremely simple explanation. The fruits appear rubbery because they are almost certainly unripe.
In another clip in which a watermelon is seen “bubbling,” users were quick to point out that such activity occurs when a watermelon begins to ferment.
“[W]atermelons ARE gassy and has quick fermentation process,” another X user said. “[T]hey'll release some bubbles when cut sometimes bc it has gas buildup + stored under a heat/in improper way... if its stored in a cool & dark place it wont have ‘acids’ when cut... BASIC SCIENCE?”
Others were quick to mock the hysteria over the video, suggesting that the public had become far too detached from its food.
“Did other people not learn about food production as a child or visit farms to learn about how our food is made?” one user asked.
“Americans discovering fruit can be not ripe or spoiled, amazing,” a different user said.
In other words, Bill Gates hasn’t unleashed rubber disguised as watermelon to the public. Your fruit is just fine.
The rubber fruit conspiracy theory highlights not only how susceptible many in the public have become to misinformation, but how such videos can go viral on platforms like TikTok and X.
And with wellness influencers spreading false information as well, it's no surprise that something as simple as unripe fruit has frightened so many online.
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