Water Filter Company Says It Doesn't Remove Snake Venom Amid Outlandish COVID Conspiracy
The filters can make tap water cleaner, but claims saying they remove venom are bunk.
Cobra venom isn't the source of COVID-19.
Seychelle filters remove a wide range of contaminants in water, but what they don't remove is snake venom, the company said Tuesday. It made the statement after a COVID-19 conspiracy began spreading the false claim that the disease comes from cobra venom. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus first discovered at the end of 2019.
In the video, a retired chiropractor shares the false theory that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planted cobra venom in COVID-19 vaccines and the water supply. He adds that his theory is based on a fortune cookie and an episode of the fictional NBC series, The Blacklist, according to a report from The Daily Beast.
A promoter of QAnon -- the fringe right-wing conspiracy that believes former President Donald Trump was fighting a hidden war against a cabal of Satanic pedophiles in Hollywood and the Democratic Party -- began selling Seychelle filters saying they removed cobra venom from water while also selling them for a higher than retail price. He claimed that popular water filter manufacturer Brita was part of the fabricated cabal.
Seychelle said in a statement released Tuesday its filters haven't been tested to remove snake venom nor to does it make that claim.
"Any claims by any individual or group that any Seychelle filter is effective against snake venom are not backed by Seychelle, and this claim is not supported by Seychelle's test data," the company said.
The chiropractor who claimed venom was the source of the pandemic has since backtracked after receiving backlash from other conspiracy theorists, according to the Daily Beast report. He does still claim that COVID comes from the water supply.