Fact check: No, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have not been added to livestock or produce

CLAIM: COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are being added to the food supply through livestock and produce.

THE FACTS: COVID-19 vaccines are not being passed along through livestock or produce, and experts say that would not be an efficient way to immunize someone. A flurry of social media posts are falsely suggesting otherwise.

“The Unvaccinated Won’t Be Unvaccinated for Long With mRNA in the Food Supply,” reads one tweet shared thousands of times. Another asks: “Did you know they will be giving all of our livestock the covid vaccine this year?”

A TikTok video shared on Instagram, meanwhile, questions whether Whole Foods customers are unknowingly being vaccinated with “the C19 mRNA shot via food products” and shows pictures of arugula and lettuce packages.

There are no mRNA vaccines for any disease being used in cattle in the U.S., the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association emphasized in a recent statement addressing online misinformation.

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While some researchers have explored the possibility of growing edible vaccines — an appealing idea for use in countries where vaccine storage can be an issue — that concept is “far, far away from being proven,” said Shawn Chen, a professor at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy.

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