Videos show replica food made for display, not for human consumption

One clip shared on Facebook Reels on June 6, 2023 was captioned "#fakefood".

The video shows a man pouring a liquid into a tub of water before it appears to solidify into an object that looks like a cabbage. It has been viewed more than one million times.

Tagalog-language text superimposed on the video reads: "To those making this, please stop. I pity those who will eat these fake cabbages."

A woman can also be heard in the video saying in Tagalog: "Be careful about what you're buying to eat because our children might eat these too. Look, they're so realistic!"

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Screenshot of false post taken on June 14, 2023

The same video has been shared alongside a similar claim more than 27,000 times on Facebook.

Another clip showing a similar scene has garnered 1.4 million views on Facebook alongside the false claim it showed "fake cabbage" being made. It also circulated on TikTok here and here.

Some social media users appeared to believe the claim.

"OMG, we all have to be very careful. What kind of chemicals do they use to make it look like vegetables", one wrote.

"This is from China again," another said.

However, the videos in fact show plastic food replicas being made in Japan for restaurants to display, not for consumption.

Replica food for display

A keyword and reverse image search using keyframes from the first video generated by the Invid-WeVerify video analysis tool led to a video published in September 2019 by the video licensing platform ViralHog (archived link).

The one-minute video is titled "A Lesson in Making Lettuce".

According to ViralHog, the video's owner described the footage as follows: "When the whole family went to Shinmachi shopping street in Gujo Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture on a holiday, the craftsmen first practiced how to make lettuce samples as an example for children."

VirualHog also uploaded a video showing the same scene on its YouTube channel as seen below:

The clip in the false posts has been sped up and corresponds to the ViralHog video from the seven-second to the 59-second mark.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in the false post (left) and the original footage on ViralHog (right):

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Screenshot comparisons of the video in the false post (left) and the original footage on ViralHog (right)

A representative from ViralHog told AFP on June 15: "The location of this video is listed as 'Gujo Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture, Japan'."

The Japanese town of Gujo Hachiman is known as the birthplace of food replicas, or "shokuhin sampuru" (archived links here and here).

Sampuru are displayed outside ramen shops and family restaurants across Japan, a century after stores began using wax models to advertise their menu to a growing middle class.

Further reverse image searches found the other clip circulating alongside the false claim was originally posted on YouTube in 2014.

The video is titled "Making japanese food samples" (archived link).

Its caption reads: "Gujo town in Gifu prefecture of Japan is the place where technology of making these ultra-realistic food samples used to show menu in Japanese restaurants began.

"These samples are made out of plastic, wax and other materials, and then painted. It is also possible to try making some simple samples by yourself."

The video shows a man speaking in Japanese, demonstrating how to make tempura and cabbage samples.

Towards the end of the video, the man can be heard saying: "See, hold it and try to squeeze. Okay. This one is harder. See? It's hard."