This video shows lambs being roasted at food festival, not human flesh

Screenshot of the tweet. 

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The Claim and Our Verdict 

The claim: A video circulating online claims to show human flesh being roasted. 

Fact-checking: The video actually shows lambs being cooked at the Downey Greek Festival held June 2022 in California. 

Our verdict: The video does not show human flesh being roasted. It actually shows the scene of lambs being cooked at the food festival in California, United States. 

News Brief 

A video shared Aug. 22, 2022, on Twitter, claims to show the scene of human flesh being roasted. The traditional Chinese-language caption translates as, “Human trafficking is real. Organ trafficking is real. Cannibalism is also real. This video is not for the faint–hearted. Police have raided a ULCT underground organ harvesting facility in Florida.” 

As of the publication of this report, the tweet had been shared 417 times, 107 times with quote. It had also received 596 likes. 

Fact-checking 

A reverse image search found a TikTok video published June 7, 2022, identical to the video on Twitter. The caption of the TikTok video reads, “At the Downey Greek Festival – do you know what it is? #greek” 

Screenshot comparison of the TikTok video (left) and the Twitter video (right). 

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Through further searches with the keywords “Downey Greek Festival,” a photo posted June 5, 2022 on Instagram has been identified.  A comparison shows that features, including the yellow building, the black banner, and the man in black, in the TikTok video and the Instagram photo are identical.  

The caption of the Instagram photo reads, “If you don’t have plans today… The Greek festival is going on right now in Downey.” The photo was hashtagged “#downeygreekfestival.” As shown in the photo, the banner in front of the fence is printed with the blue logo of Downey Greek Food Festival. 

 

A comparison of the TikTok video (left) and the Instagram photo (right). 

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According to the Downey Greek Food Festival’s official Facebook page, the Festival 2022 was held in Downey, California from June 4 to June 5. The Festival offers lambs on a spit. The roasted meat appearing in the video is this kind of food. 

The Facebook page published a barbecue video on June 6, 2022, with the caption “Last day, today! Come get that lamb!!” The appearance and cooking method of the roasted meat in the Facebook video are identical to those in the Twitter video. The wall color and pattern of the building are also consistent with the Instagram photo mentioned above. Therefore, it could be confirmed that the barbecue scene of the Twitter video has been filmed at the Downey Greek Food Festival in California. 

 

Screenshot of the video posted on the Downey Greek Food Festival’s Facebook page (left) and the Instagram photo mentioned above (right). 

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