On July 9-11, 2023, Georgian (1, 2) and Russian-language accounts (1, 2) published posts containing photos and videos about the logos depicted on the popular products. In one video, a German-speaking person points to frog logos on products in a supermarket, while another focuses on the same sign on products sold on the supermarket’s website. The author of the post writes that according to the research video’s author, the products of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are sold with such a logo, which is harmful to health and contains poison that infects and makes people sick. In the description of the Russian-language posts, the authors use quotes from the Gospel of John, thereby indirectly indicating the harmfulness of these products and the connection between Bill Gates and the green frog logo.
The claim that the products with the frog logo shown in the video are harmful to health is false. This logo is used by the international organization Rainforest Alliance and means that the products meet international standards and sustainable production criteria. The organization is not owned by Bill and Melinda Gates, they are only donors, and the last donation was made in 2011.
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The “green frog” logo indicates compliance with international standards
The Rainforest Alliance was established in 1987 to save tropical forests, but its scope has expanded over time, and new goals have been set to improve the standard of living of farmers and forest-dwelling communities and combat climate change. This organization owns the “green frog” logo shown in the video, which means that the products are made with products grown in their certified farms that meet international standards. In Saudi Arabia, due to a lack of information, this mark raised doubts among consumers, although the country’s Food and Drug Agency explained that this logo is an indication of the product’s reliability and confirms its high standards. It should be noted that in the past, violations were detected in farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance, although it was related to violations of labor conditions, not product quality.
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Rainforest Alliance does not belong to Gates Foundation
Funding for the Rainforest Alliance is diversified. In 2022, the organization received the largest income from companies that trade in their certified products, which represents 63% of the total income. Grants received from governments and contracts signed with them take second place with 23%, followed by corporate grants with 8% and only fifth place with funds received from donors with 4%. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the data posted on its website, has contributed financially to the organization 4 times in the past and is one of the largest donors. Similar data is published by the site, which offers a list of donations to Internet users. Money was deposited twice in 2007 and again twice in 2011. In total, the amount deposited by the Foundation amounted to approximately 5,343,000 dollars. In addition to Gates Foundation, the organization has a number of significant financiers, and anyone can deposit any amount into their account. As a result, contrary to the statements made in the distributed post, the Rainforest Alliance is not owned by the Gates Foundation and is an international non-profit organization.
About the Source
The Facebook account “Giorgi Giorgi” mainly publishes anti-Western, anti-vax content and conspiracy theories, some of which have been flagged as false information by various fact-checking organizations, including Myth Detector.
The Russian-language Facebook accounts “Евгения Иванова” and “Oleg Dor” have published posts containing false information in the past as well:
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