Post falsely claims satirical UK show endorses consumption of lab-grown human flesh

"Human meet is now been eaten in the UK legitimately (sic)," says the Facebook post published on August 15, 2023.

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A screenshot shows the false post, taken on August 17, 2023

The post features an 11-minute video with a male narrator saying the consumption of "human meat" in the UK was a sign that "we are living in the last days".

"That’s cannibalism," the voiceover adds.

Viewers are then shown footage of a factory allegedly producing human meat from UK donors. In one scene, a person wearing blue scrubs carries a white box labelled "human tissue in transit".

Celebrity foodie Greg Wallace, who presents the programme, says that "engineered human meat" could be the go-to source of protein as the cost of living spikes in the UK.

Wallace also appears to conduct a taste test with Michelin-star chef Michel Roux Jr. The two discuss where the tastiest cut of flesh is likely to come from in the UK.

The now-deleted post was shared more than 14,000 times and amassed over 6,500 comments, with many believing the claim to be true.

However, it is false.

Meaty mockumentary

A keyword search for "Greg Wallace engineered human flesh" led to an online story from British newspaper The Independent on July 27, 2023 (archived here).

The article featured a version of the clip shared in the misleading social media posts, explaining that the video was a mockumentary titled "Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat", aired by national broadcaster Channel 4.

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A screenshot of The Independent article, taken on August 18, 2023

A mockumentary is a documentary-style film or television show that makes fictional events seem real (archived here).

Channel 4 said on its website that the documentary was Wallace’s investigation of "a controversial new lab-grown meat product that its makers claim could provide a solution to the cost-of-living crisis (archived here)".

However, the broadcaster told AFP Fact Check that the show was entirely fictional and that everyone involved was either an actor or was aware of its satirical nature.

"It was a commentary on the extreme measures people are forced to take as the cost of living spirals," it said in an emailed statement on August 14, 2023.

"Channel 4 has a long and rich history of satire and often uses humour as an accessible way to highlight society’s most important issues."

Wallace himself described the show as "satire" on his Instagram page and suggested that it was inspired by Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay "A Modest Proposal" (archive here).

Jonathan Swift was an Irish author and satirist who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He is best known for his famous novel "Gulliver’s Travels" (archived here).

In a post on his website, Wallace acknowledged that the show had triggered a "tidal wave of outrage on social media" (archived here).

Wallace's PR spokesman Paul Leder also confirmed to AFP Fact Check that "this was a satirical film and … Its claims were not true".

What is 'miracle meat'?

In the episode broadcast on July 24, 2023, Wallace visits the Good Harvest processing plant purportedly located in Boston, Lincolnshire.

There are several clues suggesting the show's satirical nature.

"These ‘Good Harvest’ child donors are an example to all the rest of us and it’s no wonder the state supports their sacrifice 100 percent," Wallace says at one point.

"Not surprisingly, eating children seems a more likely path for our country. It’s a modest proposal, but perhaps the only attempt we’ve seen to take Britain’s great cost-of-living crisis seriously."

The end credits thank "Jonathan Swift", in another nod to the story's fictional aspect.

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Screenshots show the credits at the end of the Channel 4 mockumentary