"Why don't you want to die? Why do you still eat bullfrogs? This thing not only has a lot of parasites, but also causes cancer!"
Lao Li was very surprised to see his friend Lao Wang feasting on a pot of spicy bullfrogs.
Lao Wang disagreed:
"Didn't the experts refute all the rumors?
Lao Li was so anxious that he spitted: "Which expert do you believe? My daughter is studying medicine, I don't know how many times I told me not to eat bullfrogs, I don't believe you to search for news, there are reports of unqualified bullfrog sampling everywhere!"
Recently, the topic of "whether bullfrogs can be eaten" has once again caused controversy among all parties.
One of the most frightening claims is that the parasites in bullfrogs are only a minor problem, and the real concern is the carcinogenic potential of bullfrogs.
So bullfrogs, can they still be eaten?
1. 1 bullfrog has 129 parasites
Nowadays, most of the bullfrogs that appear on our tables are not native species, but invasive alien species - North American bullfrogs.
They are fecundity, large size, not picky eaters, and have a feed conversion rate of up to 1:1, so they have full feeding value and food value, so they have squeezed out native frogs and become frequent guests at the table.
But what is the "perfect food" in the eyes of humans is also a parasitic paradise for many insects.
In 2004, researchers caught bullfrogs in Texas and found a total of 5,812 parasites in 42 bullfrogs. What's more, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Medicine conducted autopsies on 11 bullfrogs sold in the market and found that each bullfrog had different degrees of infection, and six different parasite eggs were found in its bladder, muscles and other parts.
The infection of the more common parasite in bullfrogs can cause abdominal pain, red and swollen eyelids, headaches, and hard lumps in the oral mucosa. A 12-year-old boy, Kobayashi (pseudonym), who likes to eat frogs, sought medical attention for abdominal pain, and his blood routine showed that his eosinophils were significantly elevated, reaching 4.77*10^9/L, which was a parasitic infection - Schizocephalus infection. There are two ways in which Schizocephalus infect humans. One is through the skin or mucous membranes, and the second is raw or undercooked frog meat, snake meat, etc., which penetrate the intestinal wall from the intestine and infect the human body.
Schizocephalus is very viable and more tenacious in frog meat, they can tolerate temperature changes of -8°C to 55°C, an article in the Chinese Journal of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases pointed out that some researchers placed about 1 cubic centimeter of frog meat containing Schizocephalus in an environment of 56°C. After 3 hours, nearly 50% of the infected larvae remained in the frog meat.
Therefore, even if it is artificially cultivated, there is a certain probability of parasitism of Schizocephalic larvae, and cooking methods such as stir-frying and shabu-shabu commonly used in restaurants cannot 100% guarantee that bullfrogs are thoroughly cooked, so there is a risk of being parasitized.
Second, in the face of carcinogenic risks, parasites are not worth mentioning
However, in the face of the risk of possible cancer, parasitic infections are not worth mentioning.
In recent years, bullfrogs have been tested for banned veterinary drugs and antibiotics. For the sake of economic interests, bullfrog farms often have harsh environments and high breeding densities, and bullfrogs are prone to large-scale infectious diseases.
In order to reduce losses, farmers will feed bullfrogs with excessive veterinary drugs:
For example, enrofloxacin, which is mainly used to prevent digestive diseases that occur during the growth of bullfrogs. According to the regulations, enrofloxacin has a withdrawal period, but some farmers overfeed bullfrogs for profit, and they are still feeding medicine until the day before it is sold.
In 2021, the most representative brand in the bullfrog food industry was continuously detected to have exceeded the residue of "enrofloxacin", and the highest amount exceeded the standard by 5.6 times. Enrofloxacin has a maximum residue limit of 100 mg/kg, and excessive intake can cause gastrointestinal upset, headache, dizziness and even liver damage.
In 2018, a bullfrog farm in Fujian was found to contain norfloxacin, amoxicillin, and berberine in bullfrog feed, which are commonly used antibiotic drugs in the human body. The Ministry of Agriculture of the mainland clearly stipulates that the use of human antibiotics in animal breeding is strictly restricted, because once abused, it will bring the emergence of drug-resistant strains, and it will be more and more difficult for humans to control the disease.
As well as some illegal drugs, the most frightening are furazolidone and nitrofuran, which are nitrofuran broad-spectrum antibiotics, nitrofurans and their metabolites may cause molten iron anemia, eye damage, acute liver necrosis, and nitrofuracillin is clearly listed by the WHO as a group of 3 carcinogens. Last year, the Zhejiang Provincial Municipal Supervision Bureau randomly sampled five batches of bullfrogs in the province, all of which detected furazolidone and nitrofuracillin.
In 2020, a well-known brand frog hot pot restaurant also detected nitrofuracillin metabolites. The continental food safety standard stipulates that nitrofuracillin metabolites shall not be detected in animal food because of its carcinogenic, teratogenic and other side effects to the human body. At that time, the media had warned that "carcinogenic veterinary drugs were detected in the ingredients of Internet celebrity hot pot restaurants", but many diners still flocked to it.
According to reports this year, farmers have repeatedly banned the use of illegal veterinary drugs on bullfrogs. Obviously, in the matter of eating bullfrogs, the risk of veterinary drug residues is much greater than that of parasites.
3. What should I do if I still want to eat bullfrogs?
In fact, the diners who feast at the bullfrog restaurant are not all unaware of the risks of eating frogs, but they are lucky to know that there is a risk of causing disease.
The deliciousness of bullfrog is hard to give up. If you really want to eat, you can avoid a lot of risks by doing so:
1. Don't eat wild bullfrogs, there is a high risk of parasite infection
Bullfrogs are not completely inedible, but can be eaten by formally farmed bullfrogs. Bullfrog breeding process will indeed use some drugs, as long as the amount of drugs in line with the regulations, generally will not cause harm to the human body, after all, the regular breeding of bullfrogs contains very low veterinary drugs, and most people only occasionally eat frogs, the impact on health is minimal.
Wild bullfrogs are likely to carry a large number of parasites, which will pose a great threat to human health, and parasites have strong survival ability and long incubation period in the human body, if you eat wild bullfrogs that are not thoroughly cooked, you may be infected with parasites.
2. Try not to go to restaurants to eat, it is easy to eat undercooked bullfrogs
Some people may think that as long as they go to a regular restaurant to eat bullfrogs, then there will be no problem. In March this year, Ms. Li ate bullfrogs at a high-end restaurant in Shanghai, but found that the bullfrogs were undercooked, and the bullfrogs were still bloodied.
In July, Mr. Li called Ken's restaurant for fried bullfrog takeout, and when he ate the last frog leg, he found that the bullfrog was cooked on the outside, but raw on the inside!
Therefore, not regular restaurants can be 100% safe, everyone wants to eat bullfrogs, it is recommended to buy bullfrogs from regular channels to cook by themselves, and take safety and hygiene into their own hands.
3. Bullfrogs must be cooked thoroughly before eating, and wine vinegar and soy sauce cannot kill parasites
You should also pay attention to cooking bullfrogs at home, there is a traditional belief that garlic and sauce can be sterilized and sterilized, but you should be wary of this misconception. Whether it's stir-fried or boiled, when cooking bullfrogs, cook them thoroughly before eating, traditional sauces can only provide a seasoning function!
The Japanese people, who used to frighten the world by eating bullfrogs raw, have now gradually abandoned eating bullfrogs. Eating good food is certainly one of life's great pleasures, but there is no need to sacrifice your health.
Resources:
[1] "Eat less bullfrogs!Eat less bullfrogs!Eat less bullfrogs!".Visual Journal.2023.10.04.
[2] "A 12-year-old boy suffers from rare Schizocephalus infection, which is related to frog eating!".
[3] "Exposed to Eating Born Bullfrogs!KFC Restaurant Responds".Southern Metropolis Daily.2023.07.27.
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