The African giant snail has been roaming our country for 90 years, and the country has been governing. This species is actually a delicacy on the table of the locals in its hometown, Africa, but why do we let it flood and endanger the natural environment as soon as we come to China? Our country has always been known for daring to eat and love to eat, why sit idly by?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > "evil" African giant snail</h1>
In 1931, several Large African snails were first spotted in Fujian Province. After tracing the roots, it was found that these large snails were "smuggled" in plants sent back by a returned overseas Chinese. In just a few years, the African giant snail has successfully gained a foothold in China's southeastern provinces. In 1979, the African Giant Snail successfully made its home in southwestern Yunnan via Vietnam, which meant that southern China was completely "occupied" by the African Giant Snail.
African snail
It can be said that the African snail was covered with sin the moment it set foot on Chinese soil. The African giant snail is native to East Africa, where it is a delicacy of the locals. After smuggling around the world by ocean freighter, the African giant snail has gained a foothold abroad with its strong survivability.
The African giant snail is one of the largest snails in the world. It is huge, and naturally needs to eat more to provide energy for the operation of the body. The African giant snail has a very mixed diet, and it can eat when it is still a juvenile. The larvae of the African giant snail feed on humus soil and dead bodies of flora and fauna. Adult African large snails can eat the leaves of a variety of plants and even eat herbs directly. The most terrifying thing is that when there is no food to eat, the African snail will eat the corpses of its own kind.
African giant snails that eat
African large snails eat the leaves of plants, which naturally cause great damage to crops. In our southwestern border region, we have been forced to change the crop structure because of the flood of African snails.
In the past, cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage were mostly grown here, but the leaves of such vegetables are easily eaten by African snails. To reduce losses, local vegetable farmers were forced to abandon cruciferous vegetables and switch to tuber crops such as potatoes.
The growth cycle of the African giant snail is extremely short, and it can reproduce into larvae from snail eggs in as little as a few hours. After three or four days of birth, you can find something to eat on your own. The time for African large snails to enter sexual maturity is also extremely short, taking only 5-6 months to reach.
African large snail adult
The African giant snail is a hermaphrodite, but still requires sexual reproduction. Although it has only a few years of lifespan, it can lay a large number of snails in a short lifetime. African large snails generally breed four times a year, with up to 150-300 eggs at a time. What's even more terrifying is that the African giant snail will breed about 6,000 eggs in its lifetime!
It is precisely because of this characteristic that the African giant snail has successfully flooded in our southern provinces.
African large snail eggs
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" >Why chinese foodies dare not eat? </h1>
The African large snail is large and numerous, and the key is that it looks tender and juicy. This should have been a boon for Chinese foodies, but basically no one dared to eat the African snails that can be found everywhere in the wild. This is because the African giant snail is so dirty, not only dirty but also very unsafe, so the average foodie is afraid of it! Once, an entrepreneur did not believe in evil, and a family of four died.
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 who have been pit by African snails.
Zhong Qiugui believed in the rumor that he ate African large snails raw, so he farmed African large snails caught in the wild at home. On June 27, 1985, Zhong Qiugui made an African giant snail into sashimi and ate it with the other four members of the family.
Unexpectedly, eating the African snail body was not replenished, and he and the three people in the family lost their lives. The only "survivor", the second son Zhong Deshang, also drove hexi after more than ten years of coma in bed.
The top brass of Jinlan soy sauce was almost stabbed by this plate of snails, but Zhong Qiugui's three sons escaped the disaster because they were abroad. The direct cause of the death of four people was infection with Guangzhou tube roundworm.
President of Jinlan Soy Sauce - Zhong Qiugui
Why do African snails kill so many people? First of all, its motor organs secrete a lot of white mucus, which is carried everywhere when it moves. It looks very disgusting, and it is difficult for ordinary people to mouth. The excrement and carcasses produced by the African giant snail are extremely easy to attract flies to feed, which in turn increases the probability of the plague spreading through the flies as an intermediate host. This is because the African giant snail carries a variety of zoonotic bacteria and parasites.
In addition, it carries a large number of Guangzhou tube strongyloides, and the number of parasites in the body will increase with age. Eating raw or even incompletely heated African large snails can be infected with Guangzhou tube strongyloidiasis. After entering the human body, The Guangzhou tube roundworm will crawl directly into the brain and attack the brain nervous system. It leads to human infection with meningoencephalitis, the main symptoms of which are headache, fever, facial nerve paralysis, and severe illness and even death. Zhong Qiugui's family died at its hands!
Therefore, even if China's foodies have always been famous for being able to eat, love to eat, and dare to eat, they will not easily take their own lives to try their lives!
Guangzhou tube round nematode
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > how to deal with African giant snails</h1>
It is precisely because the African giant snail is extremely harmful to the human body that China's disease control department and the local government where African large snails are flooded have issued warnings many times. People who find African large snails are asked not to catch African large snails for consumption without permission, and not to touch African large snails with their hands. Then 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 african giant snails is to sprinkle salt, because 80% of the snail's body is made of water. Salt can allow the water in the body of african snails to precipitate rapidly, so that African snails die directly from dehydration.
Of course, friends living in Hong Kong should never do this. Because this would be considered animal cruelty in the local area, not only would it be fines but it would also be possible to go to jail.
Sprinkle salt to kill snails
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > what snails can still eat</h1>
Friends who have eaten Western food may know the famous dish of French baked snails. Although the snails used in French baked snails and the African large snail are close relatives, it does not mean that French baked snails cannot be eaten.
(1) What is the difference between varieties?
Although the "baked snail" and the African giant snail are close relatives, the "baked snail" does not directly use the wild African large snail. In order to ensure food safety, Western restaurants at home and abroad will use artificially domesticated varieties. There is a big classification of this type of snail, that is, edible snails.
Eat snails
The history of Chinese edible snails is not long, but the White Jade Snail, a Chinese edible snail breed, has been bred independently. The white jade snail is a good breed produced by selecting albino individuals from the African large snail for directional breeding, because the body color is as white as jade and got its name.
(2) Is the white jade snail really complete?
The biggest difference between the white jade snail and the wild African giant snail is the difference in safety factor. White jade snails are artificial breeds, in order to ensure that the nutritional value is up to standard, farmers will feed special snail feed. Some people will directly feed cereal bran, vegetables and other foods rich in trace elements.
Farmed white jade snails
Due to living in a clean environment, it is not easy for bacteria and parasites to accumulate in the body that harm human health. The wild African giant snail is different, they eat what they have, not only the nutrients are not good, but also easy to infect with parasites and bacteria.
Roasted snails
(3) Precautions for eating snails
White jade snails are safer than wild African snails, but that doesn't mean you can eat them without scruples. Before processing purchased live white jade snails, they should be allowed to expel food debris from the body. Because some white jade snails grow up eating humus, there will be ingredients in the body that are harmful to human health. When cooking white jade snails, it should also be cooked thoroughly, because there are still bacteria in the body of artificially raised white jade snails, and only high temperature sterilization can ensure food safety.
The African giant snail is a terrible invasive species in our country and is currently being tackled by the country. If exposed African large snails are found, do not touch them with your hands and can be killed by sprinkling table salt. And those who still want to eat the African giant snail, or don't fight the idea of these dangerous alien species. In addition, in the face of invasive species, it is difficult for humans to solve the problem by eating. Therefore, Inspector Bear called for compliance with national laws, do not bring in invasive alien species, and not to release animals without brains!
bibliography
[1] "Youyi. Distribution, transmission, pest and control status of African giant snails[N].Guangxi Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2016-2-31