A video claiming that spices from India contain urine and cow dung have been found to be defamatory by a court in New Delhi last year, but the same claims are still circulating in other forms, including among Malaysian internet users.
In Malaysia, the claims are making the rounds in a WhatsApp message, written in BM, alleging that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the spices to contain 18 percent cow urine and dung.
“Those who eat curries or kurma dishes from mamak restaurants, Hindu restaurants, and those hiring caterers for weddings and so on must ask if the dishes are cooked using spices imported from India,” the message read.
Urging recipients to forward the message to other Muslims, it also went a step further to claim the spices also contain rat fur, droppings, and dead insects, without providing a source for such claims.
Malaysiakini’s checks found that the WhatsApp message is likely based on a news article by Crescent International, an online magazine of an Islamic group in Toronto, published in 2020.
The article cited a YouTube video, which has since been taken down.
It is likely that this video was taken down after the Delhi High Court on May 6 last year directed YouTube’s owner Google LLC, to block or take down the video from the video-sharing platform because it was “defamatory” against several brands of spices.
The defamation lawsuit was filed by the spice brand ‘”Catch” against the owners of two YouTube channels - TYR and Views NNews - which uploaded the video.
“The impugned videos contain defamatory remarks against the plaintiff’s products without any basis.
“The plaintiff has placed on record a list of ingredients contained in its products/spices advertised in the impugned videos.
“It has obtained certification from all the concerned regulatory bodies and has even presented reports of an independent food analysis by a certified laboratory, which do not indicate the presence of cow dung, cow urine, or any other contaminants, as alleged in the impugned videos,” High Court judge Sanjeev Narula found, as reported by India Times.
Still circulating on Facebook, LinkedIn
Although the video linked to by Crescent International is no longer available on YouTube, it is still circulating on other platforms, including LinkedIn and Facebook, where it has been shared in the past weeks.
The video features images of different types of spices manufactured by Indian brands, and what appears to be an AI-generated voiceover claiming they contain cow dung and urine, and linking it to the Hindu-friendly policies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The video also cites unrelated news reports about the use of cow urine and dung in other products made in India and the market for such products.
Similarly, in its article claiming spices from India contain cow urine and dung, Crescent International also bolsters its allegations by citing other unrelated reports on products made using cow dung or urine.
One of them was a BBC report from 2015, featuring the Holy Cow Foundation, which cares for abandoned cows.
The foundation makes shampoo, face masks, and cleaning products using distilled cow urine or ash from cow dung, and does not make spices.
The foundation said it manufactures these products to show that cows which no longer produce milk can still have value, and should not be abandoned or sent to the slaughterhouse.
Crescent International described this BBC report as an “investigation” but it was part of a series of reports on businesses in India and was not an investigative journalism report. - Mkini
Malaysiakini is part of JomCheck, a fact-checking alliance.
Through JomCheck, Malaysians can submit requests to fact-check a claim by sending a WhatsApp message to the tipline at 017-477 6659 (WhatsApp text only, no calls) or via this link.
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