Alicia Silverstone raised alarms among fans after sharing a TikTok video in which she appeared to eat a potentially poisonous fruit she found while walking in England. In the video posted on Monday, the “Clueless” star presented an orange fruit resembling a cherry tomato and asked her followers for help identifying it.
“I just bit into it because it was on the street, and we were discussing whether this was a tomato or not,” Silverstone explained in her video. She expressed her doubts about the fruit, noting that its leaves didn’t look like those of a tomato. The fruit, which contained seeds resembling those of a pepper, prompted her to question its safety.
She showed a crushed fruit on the ground and asked, “What the heck is this? Because when you open it up, it looks like that. And 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?”
Viewers quickly identified the fruit as the Jerusalem cherry, a plant native to South America known to be toxic. GardeningKnowHow.com warns that the fruit, despite its bright color, can cause poisoning and even death if ingested. The plant can affect both the gastrointestinal and central nervous systems, leading to a range of health issues, including stomach pain, fever, diarrhea, paralysis, slowed breathing, and delirium, as noted by MedlinePlus.gov.
Concerned fans inundated the comments of Silverstone’s video with worries about her well-being. One user asked for updates on her condition, while another questioned why anyone would consume unknown items found on the street.
As of Tuesday morning, Silverstone had yet to provide an update on her social media accounts, and her representative had not responded to queries for further information.
Alicia Silverstone, widely recognized for her role in the 1995 comedy “Clueless,” is also the author of a vegan cookbook titled “The Kind Diet,” released in 2009. In her book, she advocates for plant-based eating, claiming it enhances strength and improves immune function by eliminating excess fats and toxins from the body.