Warnings about HIV infected bananas and fruit spread online

Rumours are spreading that claim that people are injecting fruit – specifically bananas – with HIV infected blood, and readers should watch out for “an ascending color of red” in their fruit purchases.

Other versions of the rumour claim that over 1 million bananas were found by authorities in Guatemala to contain the HIV virus, while others show images purporting to depict blood-infected bananas.

Different versions of the rumour that spread in 2015 and 2016 can be seen below –

This happened to my friends sister who lives in Nebraska but please share this and be aware. Someone is injecting blood into banannas. The hospital tested the bananna and it is indeed blood. After researching on the Internet apperently someone is injecting HIV positive blood into bananas and oranges.

Urgent
If you notice that your fruit contains an ascending color red don’t eat it, the people are injecting with blood containing HIV virus also conosido such as aids. Pass the word. Blessings!

This afternoon Dr Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, complained to the media that were found near 1 million bananas infected with HIV virus (AIDS).

Despite the popularity of these rumours, there is no truth to them whatsoever. Despite claims made in many of the rumours that the World Health Organisation is aware of this issue, there has been no statement or warning issued by them or any other relevant health organisation. Additionally no credible media reports have been penned warning of any known epidemic of HIV injected fruits coming from anywhere in the world.

Warnings about HIV infected food or drink is a popular type of scarelore designed to panic and alarm readers. Only recently we debunked a story about HIV infected oranges that were apparently coming out of Libya, which turned out to be pure nonsense.

A number of other rumours warning of HIV infected products have previously spread across the Internet, like the notorious claim that a disgruntled worker of Pepsi put his blood into bottles of the fizzy drink at a bottling factory. Needless to say, this was just an urban myth too.

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All of these rumours fall foul of one basic fact – the HIV virus cannot survive outside of the human body. The CDC even specifically notes this in an article dispelling myths about HIV.

They say…

You can’t get HIV from consuming food handled by an HIV-infected person. 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.

So no, there are no fruits coming or going anywhere containing the HIV virus. Images of bananas that appear to contain blood are likely just rotting. Any number of conditions affecting fruits like bananas can cause rotting which can take a brown, black or dark red appearance.