The large African snail has been rampant in our country for 90 years, and the country has been governing it. This species is actually a delicacy on the table of locals in its hometown of Africa, but why did we let it overflow and endanger the natural environment when it came to China? Our country has always been a world-famous foodie for dare to eat and love to eat. Why sit back and watch?
"Evil-doing" African snails
In 1931, a number of African snails were discovered for the first time in Fujian Province. After tracing the source, it was discovered that these large snails were “smuggled” in the plants sent back by a returning overseas Chinese. In just a few years, the African snail has successfully established a foothold in the provinces of southeastern China. In 1979, the African snail successfully settled in southwest Yunnan via Vietnam, which meant that the southern part of China was completely "occupied" by the African snail.
African snail
It can be said that the moment the African snail set foot on Chinese soil was full of sin. The large African snail is native to eastern Africa, where it is a delicacy for the locals. After taking an ocean-going freighter to smuggle the world, the African snail has gained a firm foothold abroad with its strong survivability.
The African snail is one of the largest snails in the world. The body is huge and naturally needs to eat more to provide energy for the functioning of the body. The feeding habits of the African snail are extremely mixed, and it can eat when it is still a larva. The larvae of the large African snail feed on humus and the dead bodies of plants and animals. Adult large African snails can eat the leaves of a variety of plants, and even directly eat herbs. The most frightening thing is that when there is no food to eat, the large African snails will eat the same kind of carcasses.
Large African snails eating
Large African snails eat the leaves of plants, which will naturally cause great damage to crops. The southwest border area of our country was forced to change the crop structure because of the influx of large African snails.
In the past, the cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage were mostly grown here.But the leaves of this kind of vegetables are easily eaten by the large African snails. In order to reduce losses, local vegetable farmers were forced to abandon the cultivation of cruciferous vegetables and switch to tuber crops such as potatoes.
The growth cycle of large African snails is extremely short, and it can reproduce from snail eggs to larvae within a few hours. Three or four days after birth, you can find something to eat on your own. The time for the large African snails to enter the sexual maturity period is also extremely short, and it only takes 5-6 months to reach it.
Adult African snail
African snail is an animal of hermaphrodite , but it still needs to be reproduced sexually. Although it has a life span of only a few years, it can lay a large number of snail eggs in a short lifetime. Large African snails generally breed four times a year, each breeding up to 150-300 eggs. Even more frightening is that the African snail will reproduce about 6000 eggs in its lifetime!
It is this characteristic that the African snail has successfully spread in the southern provinces of our country.
Large African snail eggs
Why do Chinese foodies dare not eat them?
The big African snail is large in size and large in number. The key is to look fresh and juicy. This should have been the gospel of Chinese food, but almost no one dared to eat the large African snails that can be seen everywhere in the wild. This is because the big African snail is too dirty, not only dirty but also very unsafe, so generally foodies are afraid of it! There was an entrepreneur who did not believe in evil, and a family of four died as a result.
Zhong Qiugui, the second-generation president of Jinlan Soy Sauce, and his family of four, can be said to be one of the most miserable people by African snails.
Zhong Qiu Guixin rumors that he eats large African snails tonic, so he raised large African snails caught in the wild in his own home.Zhong Qiugui made large African snails into sashimi at on June 27, 1985, and ate them with the other four people in the family.
Unexpectedly, eating the big African snail failed to make up for it, and he and the three people in his family lost their lives. The only "survivor", the second son Zhong Deshang, also drove Hexi after being in a coma for more than ten years.
Jinlan Soy Sauce was almost sashimi by this plate of snails, but Zhong Qiugui's three sons escaped because they were abroad. The direct cause of the deaths of the four people was the infection of Angiostrongylus cantonensis .
Jinlan Soy Sauce President-Zhong Qiugui
Why is the big African snail so fatal? First of all, its motor organs secrete a lot of white mucus, which will be carried everywhere when it moves. It looks very disgusting, and it is difficult for most people to speak up. The excreta and carcasses produced by the large African snails are extremely easy to attract flies to eat, which in turn increases the probability of the plague spreading through flies as an intermediate host. This is because the large African snails carry a variety of zoonotic bacteria and parasites.
In addition, it carries a large number of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in its body, and the number of internal parasites will increase with age. Eating raw or even incompletely heated African snails can be infected with Angiostrongyliasis. Angiostrongylus cantonensis will crawl directly into the brain and attack the nervous system of the brain after entering the human body. Cause human meningoencephalitis infection, the main symptoms of this disease are headache, fever, facial nerve paralysis,In severe cases, it may even die. Zhong Qiugui's family died in its hands!
Therefore, even if our country’s foodies have always been known for being able to eat, love to eat, and dare to eat, they will not easily take their own lives to try their lives!
Angiostrongylus cantonensis
How to deal with the African snail
Because the African snail is extremely harmful to the human body, my country's disease control department and the local government that floods the African snail have issued multiple releases warn. Those who have found the African snails are required not to catch the African snails privately for consumption, nor to touch the African snails with their hands. So for these hateful "illegal immigrants", in addition to keeping a distance, there is a way to deal with it.
The easiest way to deal with large African snails is to sprinkle salt. This is because 80% of the snail's body is water. The salt can make the water in the large African snails quickly separate out, so that the large African snails die directly from dehydration.
Of course, friends who live in Hong Kong must not do this. Because this will be regarded as cruelty to animals in the local area, not only fines but also possible jail time.
Sprinkle salt to kill snails
What snails can still eat
Friends who have eaten western food may know the famous French-style baked snails. Although the snails used in French baked snails are close relatives of the large African snails, it does not mean that the French baked snails cannot be eaten.
(1) What is the difference between the varieties?
Although "baked snails" and African snails are close relatives, "baked snails" do not directly use wild African snails.In order to ensure food safety, domestic and foreign western restaurants will use artificially domesticated varieties. There is a big classification of this kind of snails, that is-edible snails.
Edible snails
The history of Edible snails in China is not long, but the Chinese edible snail species white jade snail has been cultivated independently. The white jade snail is a good breed produced by selecting albino individuals from the large African snails for directional breeding. It is named because of its white body color as jade.
(2) Is the white jade snail safe?
The biggest difference between the white jade snail and the wild African snail is the safety factor. The white jade snail is an artificially raised species. In order to ensure that the nutritional value reaches the standard, the farmers will feed a special snail feed. Some people will directly feed foods rich in trace elements such as wheat bran and vegetables.
Farmed white jade snails
Living in a clean environment, bacteria and parasites that harm human health are not easy to accumulate in the body. The wild African snails are different. They eat whatever they have. Not only do they have poor nutrition, but they are also susceptible to parasites and bacteria.
Grilled snails
(3) Precautions for edible snails
The white jade snails are safer than wild African snails, but it does not mean that they can be eaten without scruple. Big white jade snail. Before processing the purchased live white jade snails, they should be allowed to expel food residues from the body. Because some large white jade snails grow up on edible humus, there will be ingredients in the body that are harmful to human health. The white jade snails should also be cooked thoroughly, because the artificially reared white jade snails still have bacteria in their bodies, and only high temperature sterilization can be used to ensure safe eating.
The large African snail is a terrible invasive species in our country, and the country is currently working to solve it. If you find the exposed large African snails, don't touch them with your hands, you can sprinkle them with salt to kill them. And those who still want to eat the big African snails, it’s better not to hit these dangerous alien species . In addition, it is difficult for humans to solve problems by eating in front of invasive species. Therefore, Inspector Xiong appealed to abide by national laws, not to bring in invasive alien species, let alone release animals without thinking!
References
[1] " . The distribution, spread, damage and control status of large snails in Africa" [N]. Guangxi Agricultural Journal, 2016-2-31
