how do i check a boolvalue in a player?

i'm trying to check a boolean value in the player to see if they have food, and stop the script if they do, or give them food and then set the value to true, but i dont know how to work this out

--this is the value for if you have food or not
local hasIngredient = game.Players:FindFirstChild("hasIngredient")

--this is inside a function
if hasIngredient.Value = true then --this just says expected identifier
    print("you already have one") --just for testing
    end
       else
            if db and player then
        db = false
        foodNumber.Value = foodNumber.Value - 1
        foodLeft.Text = tostring(foodNumber.Value)
               local inv = player.Backpack 
               local tool = game.ServerStorage["Tomato"]
               tool:Clone().Parent = inv
           hasIngredient.Value = true --i set the has food value to true afterwards
           wait(2)
           db = true
        end