Alicia Silverstone causes confusion after eating ‘poisonous’ fruit from the street

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Alicia Silverstone has caused confusion among her fans after she apparently ate a “poisonous” fruit from the street.

The 47-year-old actress shared a video of her recent experience walking down a street in England on TikTok on August 19. “OK, I’ve spotted something I don’t know what it is and I need your help,” she told her viewers.

She then held up what looked like an orange berry with seeds inside. Silverstone also admitted that she had tasted the supposed fruit herself.

“I just bit into it because it was lying on the street and we were debating whether it was a tomato or not,” she continued, before filming the fenced garden where she got the fruit.

Silverstone also questioned the nature of the plant’s leaves, which had green, red and orange berries hanging from them.

“So what the hell is this?” Clueless added the star, before showing the fruit being opened on the street and the seeds popping out.

She took another bite of the fruit and showed the camera its insides. “I don’t think it’s safe to eat,” she admitted. “But it’s almost like a bell pepper. Does anyone know what it is? I don’t know what it is.”

The actress highlighted her confusion in the caption, writing: “What the f*** is this?! I’m in England and I can’t figure it out.”

The TikTok video quickly went viral, garnering over 1.3 million views. In the comments, several people claimed that the fruit she ate was a poisonous Jerusalem cherry. Fans asked for an update on how she was doing after eating the supposed cherry.

“Oh my god NO!! The Jerusalem cherry is a very poisonous nightshade. Hope you’re well,” wrote one.

“WOMAN! GIVE US A NEW UPDATE. ARE YOU ALIVE AND OK!?!” wrote another, while a third commented, “Is Alicia OK??? We need an update!”

Other viewers not only asked The Swarm Star because she took the fruit from what appeared to be a private garden, but also because she ate something she didn’t know what it was.

“Even if it was a tomato, it’s in someone’s private front yard, you can’t just reach through the gate and pick the plants,” wrote one.

“He just picks something he doesn’t know what it is and eats it,” commented another.

A third replied: “Why would ANYONE eat random, unknown things off the street?!?”

The Independent has asked representatives from Silverstone for comment.

According to MedlinePlus of the National Institute of Health, Jerusalem artichoke is “a plant that belongs to the same family as the black nightshade.” The toxic ingredient of the plant – which “produces small, round, red and orange fruits” – is solanocapsin. The consequences of this type of poisoning, which can be dangerous, “mainly affect the gastrointestinal tract (often with a delay of eight to ten hours) and the central nervous system.”

The medical website notes that, depending on treatment, symptoms of poisoning “most often resolve within one to three days, but hospitalization may be necessary.” Deaths from eating the poisonous cherry are rare.