FACT CHECK: Hoax Claims That Pepsi Products Are Infected With HIV
A viral image shared on Facebook warned against drinking Pepsi products, claiming that an employee has “admitted that he added his blood contaminated with AIDS.”
“Pepsi is poison. More proof,” one individual who shared the image on Facebook wrote in the caption.
Verdict: False
This claim has been routinely debunked over the years as a hoax.
Fact Check:
This claim crops up regularly, with each image alleging that an HIV-positive PepsiCo employee had admitted to contaminating Pepsi products with his blood. The claim warned against drinking Pepsi products for the “next few weeks.”
The full claim reads: “There’s news from the police. Its [sic] an urgent message for all. For the next few weeks please do not drink any product from PEPSI like Pepsi, Tropicana juice, Slice, 7up etc. A worker from the company has admitted that he added his blood contaminated with AIDS. Watch MDTV. It was shown yesterday on Sky News. Please forward and warn others too.”
However, The Daily Caller found no evidence of this news story being shared on Sky News or any other news outlet, except in order to debunk similar posts.
When we asked PepsiCo about the claim, a spokesperson responded via email, “We want to reassure you that this is a false rumor and there is absolutely no truth it. Pepsi is safe to drink and there’s no cause for alarm.”
The claim is also vague, saying there was “news from the police” without giving a location.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that “you can’t get HIV from consuming food handled by someone with HIV. Even if the food contained small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen, exposure to the air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid would destroy the virus.”
