Good news for Alicia Silverstone … it’s unlikely she’ll die from munching on poisonous berries recently, experts say.
But the toxic Jerusalem cherries the “Clueless” star was seen chomping in a viral TikTok video after plucking them from a London yard … are not to be messed with.
While there’s no evidence in medical literature that anyone has ever died from ingesting these decorative cherry-tomato-looking berries … they can leave healthy adults writhing with stomach pains.
The fruit can wreak havoc on young children and pets though … Dr. Noah Whiteman, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, tells TMZ.
A medical journal case study from 2000 tells of a 4-year-old Italian girl who suffered severe symptoms — including hallucinations and heart problems — after wolfing down a Jerusalem cherry, toxic seeds and all. She fully recovered after getting an antidote.
The main toxic chemical in the Jerusalem cherry is solanocapsine … in the same family as morphine and strychnine.
“Do not try fruits that you don’t know the identity of,” Whiteman warned. He added that he wouldn’t advise anyone to go out foraging for fruits or mushrooms without a trained expert in tow.
But that is exactly what Silverstone did while out strolling through the British capital … picking an unknown berry from a random bush and asking her followers to help her identify it … after she had already taken a bite.
The “Blast from The Past” alum then nibbled on another one … and said it kinda tasted like a pepper. Silverstone’s taste test sent her fans into a meltdown, with many wondering if she was still alive.
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The actress later posted a cheeky follow-up clip, reassuring everyone she was “alive and well” … because she “didn’t swallow.”
No word yet from Silverstone’s camp whether she experienced any tummy troubles caused by the berries.
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