A dated video showing the staff at an eatery blowing into packets while packaging food has been revived and is being shared with communal spin in India. BOOM found that the video is old and not from India.
The 44-second clip shows a man behind a glass counter being secretly recorded as he packs food items. A pink sticker of food delivery app Foodpanda can be seen on the glass. The clip is being shared with the caption that urges people to stop eating from outside and takes a dig at Muslims.
(खाने पीने की बाजारी चीजो से परहेज करें और टोपी वाली बीमारी की नीचता देखे)
BOOM received the video on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111) asking whether it was true.
We found the same video uploaded on YouTube with the same caption linking it to the Coronavirus outbreak.
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On searching on Facebook with the same caption on Facebook we found that the video was viral.
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Viral on Twitter
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM broke the viral video into key-frames and performed a reverse image search using Google Images which search results showed that the video dates back to April 2019 and is not from India.
We found the same video uploaded on April 26, 2019, on a Facebook group named 'We are Malaysians' with the caption when translated in English reads, "Secret Recipe... to keep papadum fresh always..Turns out this is the secret recipe to stay fresh forever..."
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
We also found several other posts with the same video uploaded on April 26, 2019.
Additionally, the Foodpanda sticker in the video is pink, whereas Foodpanda's logo in India was orange which again indicates that the video is not from India, but is from abroad as Foodpanda currently has food chains in other Asian counties. Foodpanda's business in India was acquired by cab-aggregator Ola in 2017.
BOOM contacted Anand Subramanian, Head of Corporate Communications at Ola, who confirmed that the video was not from their kitchen or outlet in India.
"We have rebranded to Olafoods about a year ago and don't use Foodpanda in any of our collaterals," Subramanian told BOOM.
"The logo is pink in color, most likely indicating this is somewhere from a Southeast Asian country. Until about and after the brand's India platform was active, the logo (orange color) was used only in independent restaurants listed on the app and had nothing to do with the brand itself."
BOOM also reached out to Foodpanda, who in response via email said, "we are already aware of this video and it's from early/mid last year. But please be sure that we are already investigating and taking this matter very serious."
While we could not ascertain where the video is from, the clip is not from India and is not related to the recent Coronavirus outbreak.
The video is the latest in a series of misinformation targeting the Muslim community in India after several people who took part in a religious congregation of the Tabligh-e-Jamaat''s Markaz in Delhi earlier this month, tested positive for the coronavirus. Members of that event have now been linked to the spread of the virus in several states.
ALSO READ: False: Video Shows Muslims Licking Utensils To Spread Coronavirus
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