Alicia Silverstone’s fans think she just ate a poisonous fruit on TikTok
(WJW) – “Clueless” actor Alicia Silverstone recently took to TikTok to ask her fans if they could help identify the mysterious fruit she was eating.
Viewers quickly informed her that they thought it was poisonous.
Silverstone shared video of herself biting into the fruit on Monday in a TikTok clip she filmed on the streets of England.
“I’ve discovered something. I can’t figure out what it is, and I need your help,” she said into the camera while explaining that she found the small orange fruit while walking by a garden.
“I just bit into it because I was on the street and we were discussing whether this was a tomato or not,” she said in the clip, which had 1.9 million views as of Monday.
“It’s definitely not a tomato because of its leaves,” Silverstone said. “So what the heck is this?”
Commenters were quick to inform Silverstone that they believed she was eating a Jerusalem cherry.
“Jerusalem Cherry… They are poisonous,” said one viewer, while another joked that Silverstone was “clearly clueless.”
“I don’t think you are supposed to eat this,” Silverstone even acknowledged at one point in the video. “But it’s almost like a pepper.”
Jerusalem cherries are plants belonging to the black nightshade family, according to MedlinePlus.gov, a website operated by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The plant contains a toxin called solanocapsine, which is “especially” present in the fruit, according to MedLinePlus.
Eating the fruit (especially under-ripened) or the leaves can cause symptoms such as abdominal or stomach pain, delirium, diarrhea, fever, hallucinations, vomiting, headache and more, according to the site. Those who may have ingested parts of the plant are urged to contact a poison control center or seek care from a medical provider.
“Symptoms most often get better within 1 to 3 days, but hospitalization may be necessary,” according to MedlifePlus. “Death is uncommon.”
It is unclear whether Silverstone suffered any adverse reactions after eating the fruit (she has not posted any follow-up videos as of Tuesday), prompting fans to wonder whether she was OK.
“UPDATE US. ARE YOU ALIVE AND WELL?” one viewer demanded.
“Why in the world would you eat something that you don’t know what it is?” another asked.