HIV tomato sauce a hoax

2008-11-21 12:33

Johannesburg - An e-mail which warns people against consuming tomato sauce that has been infected with HIV-positive blood is a hoax, police said on Friday.

"The widely circulated e-mail claimed that a well-known food chain sent letters out to schools, about tomato sauce which was deliberately contaminated with the blood of an HIV-positive person," said Director Sally de Beer.

She said that police then conducted a thorough inquiry which revealed it to be a hoax.

The e-mail in question urges people not to use tomato sauce - or any other sauce - which is not sealed in a sachet because a man was caught putting blood into the tomato sauce at a restaurant.

"No such incident is known to the police," said De Beer.

"We urge people to ignore this and similar e-mails or SMSes which are probably created by a person or persons intent on causing alarm or panic."

- SAPA