Alicia Silverstone sparked online concern for her wellbeing after she posted a TikTok of herself eating a fruit she found growing on the streets of England — one that many commenters identified as toxic.
“I’ve discovered something that I can’t figure out what it is and I need your help,” the Clueless alum, 47, began her video, where she showed off the seed-filled inside of a small, brightly colored orange fruit she’d found growing on the streets of England.
“I just bit into it because it was on the street and we were discussing whether this was tomato or not,” she said, before accidentally dropping the orange fruit on the ground.
“It’s definitely not,” she noted of the possibility of it being a tomato, panning the camera to where the dense plant is growing behind a fence.
“Look at these leaves. Those are the leaves. So what the heck is this? Because when you open it up, it looks like that,” she shared, panning to where the fruit she’d dropped spilled seeds on the ground.
Silverstone then took a bite on camera, saying, “If I bite it — I don’t think you’re supposed to eat this. But it’s almost like a pepper. Does anyone know what this is?”
According to commenters, the fruit is a Jerusalem cherry, which the Northern New England Poison Center says is “harmful to eat.”
Ingesting a small amount of berries or leaves may have you “feel sick to your stomach, throw up or have diarrhea,” while eating a larger amount could cause you to get drowsy, hallucinate, or “have problems with your heart rate,” per the organization.
The Jerusalem cherry plant.
GEtty
According to Plantura, the Jerusalem cherry contains a “poisonous alkaloid” that’s “toxic.”
“The poison is not life-threatening, but it is extremely unpleasant,” the outlet says.
Silverstone has not updated her social media since posting the video on Aug. 19, causing commenters to ask “Is Alicia ok??? We need an update!”
