Dubai: A rumour that went viral last month all the way from Mexico to Italy has now popped up on social networking sites in the UAE.
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The video targeted Luppo coconut cream bars, and claimed that they were contaminated with poisonous pills. The narrator in the video alleged that once ingested, consumers would be subjected to “permanent cerebral palsy”.
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Luppo products are manufactured in Turkey. While the company produces a wide range of cake bars, the coconut cream bar in question is not imported to the UAE.
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Dubai Municipality has confirmed that the coconut Luppo cake product is not traded in the UAE market.
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The Food Safety Department at the municipality urged the public not to believe unfounded rumours circulating on WhatsApp, and to pay attention to information announced by official sources.
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The rumours of the contaminated cake bars initially went viral in early November 2019.
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According to the myth-busting website Snopes, the “tablets” shown in the viral video footage are clearly larger than those dimensions, and so could not have been added to the cake bar while it was being made.
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The spokesperson of Luppo, according to Snopes, also noted that the production process is entirely automated, meaning the components of each snack are “untouched by human hands” until each product is already in its packaging.
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Verify rumours
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Dubai residents can confirm the validity of rumours by either contacting the call centre’s toll-free hotline number 800900 or through the WhatsApp number +971 50 1077799.
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Residents in Abu Dhabi can report food safety violations by contacting the Abu Dhabi Government Contact Centre on the toll free number 800 555.
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