A false report about strawberries and asparagus was circulating on the website of the Federal Center for Nutrition for years. Now the authority is apologizing.
Bonn - More than four years after the publication of an alleged study on a connection between asparagus and strawberry consumption, the Federal Center for Nutrition (BzfE) apologized on Wednesday (April 17) for the report at the time. “Asparagus pee with a strawberry smell” is the headline of an article that was published on April 1, 2020 and was subsequently even quoted by some news portals. The BzfE now clarified things “somewhat” late: the content of the article at the time was “fictitiously made up”. An “April Fool’s joke”, says the press release entitled “Asparagus pee WITHOUT strawberry smell”.
Four years late: Federal Center for Nutrition clears up the asparagus-strawberry April Fool's joke
Strawberry-scented asparagus pee officially does not exist. On April 1, 2020, the authority's editorial team indulged in an April Fool's joke and published an article on the topic. It was about an alleged participant in an asparagus study who had eaten numerous strawberries before consuming the popular vegetable and reported that his urine suddenly smelled “slightly of strawberries.” Researchers have since investigated whether it is possible to grow asparagus with a strawberry smell. The whole study was fictitious, none of it was true. However, other home remedies are said to help against asparagus urine.
Asparagus joke backfired
The joke backfired
a
bit
. Some media outlets picked up on the supposed study results based on the original report that was online up to that point. Among other things, the advice editorial team of the
German Press Agency
also referred to them in a report in 2022. The alleged asparagus study can still be found on the BzfE website today.
It was only last weekend that the decision was finally made to make the hoax study more clearly identified as such, said a BzfE representative when asked by the
German Press Agency
. On Tuesday, a note (“April, April!”) was placed in the header image of the message. In addition, a corresponding note was placed above the otherwise unchanged text, he explained. It says: “This report was written one day before April 2, 2020. = April. April!!!"
The BzfE's April Fool's joke backfired: several media outlets reported on asparagus pee with a strawberry smell
In addition, the press spokesman responsible for the joke published a new report on Wednesday, April 17th. In it he writes that the made-up news story was mistakenly picked up again this year by some editorial teams, despite being tipped off. “So I hereby apologize and hope that no one experiences any trouble as a result of my inner compulsion to joke. If so, feel free to blame me and have your superiors call me,” the message says. “I hereby assure you that you can (otherwise) rely on us as a reputable source!”
There were mainly positive reactions to the press release (“Asparagus pee WITHOUT strawberry smell”). The BzfE is part of the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) and aims to inform and advise consumers in Germany about healthy diets, food safety and sustainable consumption.
(nz with dpa)