CLAIM: Flavor enhancers made from aborted fetal tissue are being added to food products without consumers’ knowledge.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Biotechnology companies have frequently used fetal cell lines in their research and testing, but flavor enhancers used in food products do not contain any tissue from aborted fetuses. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement that it would not approve any food containing fetal tissue for human consumption and is not aware of this ever happening.
THE FACTS: A years-old misconception about the use of fetal cell lines in research has resurfaced online in recent months with the false claim that food manufacturers give customers products made from fetal tissue.
“Flavour enhancers made from aborted fetal tissue are being eaten without the knowledge of consumers,” read one tweet shared thousands of times. “Amounts of these flavour enhancers used in food products are below a certain threshold, so they don’t need to be reported or safety-tested by the FDA.”
The claim, which also circulated on Instagram with the misleading caption “aborted babies in your food,” was further amplified when a Texas state senator this month introduced a bill calling for the labeling of foods containing “aborted human fetal tissue.”
But there is no basis for such claims, according to the FDA, which said in an emailed statement that it would not condone this and was “not aware of any company ever putting fetal cells into food products.”
“There are no...
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