Dubai dismisses Pepsi-related AIDS rumors on social media

DUBAI, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Dubai municipality on Sunday dismissed the rumors on some social media sites claiming that the U.S. soft drink Pepsi was transmitting AIDS.

In a statement carried by the Gulf News daily's website, the city called the claims as a "hoax," citing that the AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, cannot be transmitted through food or beverages.

The city called on the citizens to report to its call center for authenticating the "unverified and confusing information" they receive on the social media.

It added that the World Health Organization has said that the AIDS can only be transmitted through direct blood contact such as the co-use of needles, injections, cotton or transfusion, through sexual intercourse, or from an infected pregnant mother to a children.

Spreading false rumors is a criminal offense in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that can be punished with jail terms, and foreigners doing so can be expulsed from the country after being prosecuted. Enditem