I note, by the way--just looked it up--that Wikipedia indeed claims that this was so, and gives a source.
The "source"? The very same TV documentary my friend saw, which is the basic problem with Wikipedia: as long as they can quote "a citation," they go with it, and that's how these possible urban myths get perpetuated.
Not saying it IS an urban myth, but that's the big difference between Wiki and the Encyclopedia Britannica. The latter would never quote a TV documentary as factual verification.