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FACT CHECK: No, these photos don't show ‘human meat’ used in canned food

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<p>Photos that appear to show bloody human bodies in plastic packaging have been shared tens of thousands of times in a Facebook post that claims “human meat” is being used in canned foods outside the Philippines. </p><p>The post, which also contains other pictures purporting to show human flesh, is misleading; the images are actually from a vegan protest and a promotional event for a video game.</p><p>The photos shared in this Facebook <a href="http://archive.is/ZOCiU">post</a> show people smeared with red liquid that looks like blood and wrapped in what resembles supermarket meat packaging.</p><p>The post, which has been shared more than 133,000 times since it was published on August 14, 2017, also includes images of tinned tuna and what looks like meat in the shape of a person.</p><p>Below is a screenshot of the post:</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/04/30/20190430-fact-check-1.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screenshot of Facebook post</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The post’s Filipino-language caption, translated to English, says in capital letters:</p><p>“Will you believe… Reminder to all OFWs abroad don’t buy corned beef or meal tuna there… Their content is human meat… This is spread out all over the world”. </p><p>OFWs refers to overseas Filipino workers, millions of whom are deployed outside the country for their jobs.</p><p>A reverse image search on Google traced the vertical photo back to this <a href="https://www.thepitchkc.com/news/article/20580846/petas-latest-bloody-naked-protest#&amp;gid=1&amp;pid=2">article</a> dated May 12, 2010 about a protest held by animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in the United States. </p><p>The article is headlined: “PETA’s latest bloody naked protest.”</p><p>The image below compares screenshots of the image from the misleading Facebook post (L) and the picture as it appears in the report on PETA (R):</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/04/30/20190430-fact-check-2.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screenshot of images</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Another reverse image search on Google traced the top-right image in the Facebook post to this <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/23/vegans-stage-human-meat-protest-in-barcelona">report</a> in UK newspaper the Telegraph, dated May 23, 2016, about a demonstration in Spain against meat production and consumption.</p><p>The image is visible eight seconds into a video that is embedded in the report.</p><p>Below is an image comparing the picture in the misleading Facebook post (top) with the video still in the Telegraph report (bottom):</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/04/30/20190430-fact-check-3.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screenshot of images</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The bottom-right image in the post is a montage that was deemed potentially “violent or graphic” on Facebook and greyed out.</p><p>Here is a screenshot of the image:</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/04/30/20190430-fact-check-4.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screenshot of image</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>A reverse image search of the bottom picture in the montage led to this 2012 multimedia <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211187/Give-hand-Macabre-human-butchery-shop-established-Smithfield-Market-dont-worry-just-stunt.html#v-1871148957001">report</a> in the Daily Mail about an event to promote the launch of the video game “Resident Evil 6,” which included meat in the shape of human body parts.</p><p>Here is a screenshot from 1:17 in the video included in the report, which shows the fake “meat body”:</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/04/30/20190430-fact-check-5.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screenshot of image</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The upper image in the montage also came from the same video-game event. This <a href="https://o.canada.com/technology/welcome-to-resident-evil-6s-human-butcher-shop">post</a> on canada.com dated October 2, 2012 uses the image.</p><p>Below is a screenshot of the report, which credits the image to <a href="http://www.capcom.com">Capcom</a>, the developer of Resident Evil 6: </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/afp/04/30/20190430-fact-check-6.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Screenshot of website</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Comments like the one below show some people believed the misleading post was genuine.</p><p>This comment, when translated to English, says: “This is true even my parent-in-law in America she saw herself that those are humans not all corned beef contain beef so please watch news about other countries so that you will know the truth”.</p>

<p>The images are actually from a vegan protest and a promotional event for a video game.</p>

The images are actually from a vegan protest and a promotional event for a video game.