The Fushou snail that the reporter bought in a market in Chongqing The pictures in this article are all pictures of surging news reporter Xia Ruchu (except for other signatures)
Whether the invasive alien species Fushou snail can be served on the table like crayfish is still controversial.
In recent years, disease control departments and experts in many places have also repeatedly called for the consumption of Fushou snails because of the wide variety and large number of parasites they carry, and improper consumption or endangering human health.
However, driven by profits, many people have quietly "sent" the snail to the table by some vendors, and it is difficult to distinguish between the shells and the snail meat after being processed and sold as snail meat.
The surging news revealed in the article "Pai Investigation|Secret Visit to the Fushou Snail Industry Chain (I): Traders Buy a Large Number of Wild Caught Fushou Snails and Pretend to Be Snails for Sales" revealed that the price of Fushou snails is extremely low, and the price difference between common freshwater snails such as snails is several times, and some traders have shelled and processed into snail meat and entered the market.
The biological characteristics of the snail and the snail are very different, but after adding seasoning and cooking and other complex processes, it is difficult to distinguish between them. Sharp-eyed consumers complain after discovering it, but there are few cases of successful rights protection. The reporter found traces of Fushou snails in a variety of snail meat products purchased randomly. The stores involved were all "qualified" by a third-party quality inspection, claiming that they were not Fushou snails, and only proposed to return the goods for refund, or submit them for inspection on their own.
The aquaculture professional cooperative in Shuimo Village, Tongnan District, has Fushou snail eggs in the rice field.
At present, the mainland has not banned the breeding, sale and consumption of Fushou snails. However, in recent years, with the decline in the artificial breeding output of local freshwater snails in mainland China, coupled with the implementation of the policy of banning and retiring fishing in many provinces, there is a gap in the snail market.
The interviewed experts all pointed out to The Paper that Fushou snails must not be simply classified as snails. In addition to the possible parasite problems, there are other potential risks such as heavy metals and new pollutants, which may cause irreversible damage to the human body.
Some experts pointed out that in the past five years, Fushou snails have been in a "state of explosion" in the Yangtze River Basin. Taking into account factors such as agricultural safety, ecological security, food safety, public health, and the water quality status of the growth of Fushou snails, it is "inappropriate" to let the consumption of Fushou snails at this stage. Relevant departments should strengthen the review of the source of snail meat, and the control and supervision of the types of snail raw materials.
Whether it can be consumed is debatable
Invasive alien species generally have a change process of "introduction, colonization, latentity, diffusion, and outbreak", which can be long or short.
Chu Shihai, a researcher at the Institute of Plant Protection and Soil Fertilizer of the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told The Paper that as early as 17 or 8 years ago, he found and monitored the traces of Fushou snails in Yingshan, Hubei Province, and there was no spread for a long time after that.
However, in the past five years, the snail has been "in a state of explosion" in the Yangtze River basin, especially in most areas south of the Yangtze River, with the population and invasion area increasing and expanding dramatically.
Li Weifeng, Song Yejia and others from the College of Fisheries of Huazhong Agricultural University and the Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education have published an article in the journal "Breeding and Feed" pointing out that the digestive enzymes such as cellulase and amylase in the body of the Fushou snail are "about twice that of the Chinese round snail", and also have a unique "gill lung" respiratory system, which competes with snails and stone snails for food.
Chu Shihai pointed out that the Fushou snail has a wide diet, large appetite, fast reproduction, strong adaptability, and competitive advantage, and squeezes the living space of other aquatic animals, including the native freshwater snail, which may lead to the reduction of the species and number of local aquatic species, and even endangerment or extinction, affecting aquatic biodiversity.
At the Fushou snail processing factory in Huanglushan Village, Yanwanghu Town, workers are carrying Fushou snail meat.
In recent years, local disease control departments have appealed that it is recommended not to eat Fushou snails, and if you want to eat them, you must cook them thoroughly. Professor Zhang Yinjiang, doctoral supervisor of the School of Marine Science and Ecology and Environment of Shanghai Ocean University, pointed out that in addition to the possible parasite problem, Fushou snails obtained from different sewage bodies also have other potential risks such as heavy metals and new pollutants, which may cause irreversible damage to the human body.
In May this year, the Changsha Internet celebrity restaurant Ben Radish admitted to using Fushou snails, which aroused heated discussions and attention. Recently, the news that someone was infected with parasites because they did not wear gloves to clean Fushou snail eggs has once again appeared on the hot search.
In fact, for more than a decade, Fushou snails have caused many food safety incidents. According to Xinhua News Agency and other media reports, in 2006, the cold snail meat operated by two restaurants in Beijing Shu Kingdom Romance Restaurant contained the larvae of Angiostrongyloides cantonensis, causing consumers to suffer from Angiostrongyloidiasis. The incident became a major foodborne disease incident in Beijing, causing a total of 160 infections, and many places across the country once stopped selling Fushou snails.
In addition, in 2017, a girl accidentally ate a snail on a food stall while on her honeymoon, causing parasites to invade her brain. After the incident was disclosed on social platforms, a number of media paid attention to it and made further popular science, suggesting that raw or semi-raw Fushou snails may be at risk of being infected with parasites, and they are not limited to the species of Fushou snails, and some freshwater aquatic products may also exist.
The Paper searched on social platforms and found that more and more netizens have joined the ranks of "exposure", but there are few successful cases of rights protection, and most of them cannot be properly resolved. Merchants also mostly return and refund as a way of settlement.
Zhang Yinjiang believes that taking into account factors such as agricultural safety, ecological security, food safety, public health, and the water quality of the growth of Fushou snails, it is "inappropriate" to let go of the consumption of Fushou snails at this stage.
The sale of fake snails needs to be curbed urgently
A number of experts interviewed by The Paper pointed out that Fushou snail and field snail belong to different families, and as invasive alien species, they seriously affect the structure and function of the native ecosystem and biodiversity, and must not be simply classified as field snails.
During the investigation by The Paper reporters, according to the clues released by many netizens, The Paper purchased "Bean Tycoon" explosive snail sauce, "Cat-catching fish" spicy snail meat, "Spicy Lange" toothpick snail meat, "Light Bulb Factory Sun Sister" snail noodles, and bacon snail sauce produced by "Yuanjiang Wild Food God Food Co., Ltd." in stores such as Douyin, Taobao, Pinduoduo, and Xiaohongshu platforms. Snail meat that is highly similar to Fushou snail was found.
The reporter reported the situation to the store involved as a consumer and asked for the identification report of the snail meat variety. However, the other party said that they could not provide it, and could only provide a third-party quality inspection report, some of which showed the words "snail meat". More than 120,000 pieces of the above-mentioned "bean tycoon" snail sauce have been sold, and the screenshot of the test report sent by the official customer service to the reporter does not contain any words about snail meat. The customer service repeatedly emphasized that the product quality inspection is qualified, and if you don't trust it, you can send it for inspection by yourself.
Liu Kai, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen (Changsha) Law Firm, pointed out that the quality inspection report is mainly used to prove the safety and hygiene of the product, and usually does not include the identification information of the product variety. If it is necessary to prove the specific variety of the product, special morphological identification or molecular biology testing should be carried out, and the variety and safety of the product should be fully demonstrated in combination with different types of reports. As a food manufacturer, in order to protect consumers' right to know and choose, and in accordance with relevant national food safety standards and regulations, it is obliged to clearly and clearly mark the specific varieties of products in the ingredient list. If the use of broad definitions such as "snail meat" and "snail meat" does not fully reflect the true attributes of the food, and "the specific variety has important information value to consumers", then it is necessary to label it in more detail.
Liu Kai said that if the food labels and instructions for production and operation do not meet the relevant regulations, the food safety supervision and management department of the people's government at or above the county level shall confiscate the illegal income and the food and food additives illegally produced and operated, and may confiscate the tools, equipment, raw materials and other items used for illegal production and operation; Where the value of food or food additives illegally produced or traded is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of between 5,000 and 50,000 yuan shall be imposed; if the value of the goods is more than 10,000 yuan, a fine of between 5 and 10 times the value of the goods shall be imposed; and where the circumstances are serious, order the suspension of production and business, up to and including the revocation of the license.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, also emphasized that food manufacturers should clearly mark the subdivision of raw materials. It said that if the merchant actually provided Fushou snails, but used expressions such as "snail meat", "snail meat" and "snail meat" to deceive or mislead consumers, then the merchant's behavior is suspected of infringing on consumers' right to know and choice, and may also constitute consumer fraud.
For the surging news investigation found the chaos of counterfeiting, Chu Shihai pointed out that in the current situation of widely publicizing the harmfulness of Fushou snails, the market value of Fushou snails is extremely low, and the vast majority of consumers will not take the initiative to choose Fushou snails, basically passively accepting, so it is necessary to pay more attention to the relevant departments, strengthen the supervision and crackdown on the source of aquatic products, and curb the occurrence of Fushou snails posing as snails.
Zhang Yinjiang also said that there are a wide variety of snail meat products on the market, and it is difficult for consumers to judge directly from the form of snail meat after complex processing technology, so it is necessary to further improve the review of the source of snail meat and strengthen the control and supervision of the types of snail raw materials.
He suggested that the focus of future work should be to establish and improve the prevention and control and supervision mechanism of Fushou snails. Strengthen cross-departmental cooperation in agriculture and rural areas, water affairs and environmental protection, market supervision, food hygiene, and health commissions, strengthen joint prevention and control and joint governance measures, and realize comprehensive supervision of Fushou snails. We will continue to intensify popular science education. Through educational activities, the public will be raised to understand the hazards of Fushou snails and enhance their awareness of self-protection of food safety. At the same time, the knowledge of how to identify the characteristics between Fushou snails and common snails is popularized to help consumers accurately distinguish between them, avoid accidentally eating Fushou snails that may be contaminated, and ensure a healthy and safe diet.
Jin Wu, an associate researcher at the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, pointed out that at present, the prevention and control of snails is a global problem, and there is a lack of efficient safety measures that only target snails and do not harm other biological species. In the future, if we can improve the taste of Fushou snail meat through food processing technology and use it as a resource under the premise of ensuring "food safety", we may turn waste into treasure.
The dilemma of snail farming
At the same time as the flood of Fushou snails, the artificial breeding of local freshwater snails in mainland China is also facing many difficulties.
Freshwater snail is the general name of gastropods living in freshwater, which belongs to the phylum mollusk, gastropod, and the common species in mainland China include ring snail, field snail, Chinese round field snail, etc. It often inhabits lakes, ponds, paddy fields and slow-flowing river sediments, and consumes food by filter feeding or scraping.
In addition to wild waters, the main modes of artificial aquaculture at present include pond main culture, fish and shrimp polyculture, and paddy field interculture.
According to the statistics of the "China Fishery Statistical Yearbook" over the years, since 2012, the overall output of freshwater snail aquaculture in China has shown a downward trend, and the decline has been obvious after 2016. In 2016, the national freshwater snail aquaculture output was 111879 tons. In 2017, 98,894 tons. In 2022, it dropped to 94,681 tons.
In March 2024, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a document pointing out that at present, the main problems in freshwater snail farming are: first, it is still difficult to guarantee high-quality snail seedlings, and there are no new varieties of freshwater snails approved by the state in the mainland before 2023; Second, the freshwater snail breeding technology is immature, and the freshwater snail cultivation size is small, the yield per mu is low, and the cycle is long.
In the paper published by Li Weifeng, Song Yejia and others, it is pointed out that factors such as seasonal changes, the assessment of costs and benefits, and the source of snail species have become problems that need to be solved urgently in the development of freshwater snail breeding such as field snail and Chinese round field snail.
Jin Wu is the leader of the R&D team of Lihu No. 1. This variety will be approved by the national new aquatic variety in 2023 and has been promoted and demonstrated in many places across the country.
He told The Paper that the Chinese round snail, which is similar in appearance to the Fushou snail, is affected by climate change, the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other factors, and the wild resources have been negatively affected, and the resources have fluctuated.
Most people on the most basic biological characteristics, life history, growth rules, nutrition and diseases, natural enemy prevention and control and many other aspects of snails and economic varieties such as fish, shrimp and crabs are still insufficient, coupled with the need to invest in land, population, feed and other costs for breeding snails, which objectively limits the further improvement of the snail breeding industry.
Dense snail eggs by the river.
At the same time, the sales and circulation scope of the round snail is much smaller than that of the ring snail, most of them come from the surrounding areas or surrounding provinces, which is difficult to transport over long distances, and its circulation, processing and sales are also limited to some areas with the custom of eating snails. In addition, many provinces have completely banned the fishing of natural snails, and the market gap is large.
Rice is a crop that is harmed by snails, and if not properly managed, it can reduce yields by 10 to 90 percent. Rice snail interculture has a high economic effect, but it is also easy to provide a place for the growth of Fushou snails.
Shuimo Village, Guxi Town, Tongnan District, Chongqing City, has abundant and excellent water resources. In 2019, the local Jieluo Aquaculture Professional Cooperative in Tongnan District was established, and the "rice-snail-fish" ecological planting and breeding model was innovatively launched, stocking Chinese round field snails and ring snails, with aquaculture reaching 476 acres, and the annual output of freshwater snails is more than 83 tons, which has been reported by the media many times.
When the reporter visited the local area, the weather was hot, and the water level in some rice fields was still shallow, and the number of snails could be clearly seen, and the number was not large. Some of the paddy fields have dried up a bit, and empty snail shells are scattered in the muddy ground. On the rice stalks, there are also strings of pink egg pods of Fushou snails. Employees of the cooperative said that the weather was hot, and many snails died, and they were not sold in the near future.
【Popular Science】
Fushou snail, belonging to the genus Bottle Snail of the Mesogastropod family Bottle Snail, also known as apple snail, large bottle snail, etc., is native to the Plata Basin and the Amazon Basin in South America. It was introduced to China as an edible snail in the early 80s of the 20th century, and was later abandoned because of its poor taste and carrying deadly parasites. With the characteristics of fast reproduction, miscellaneous diet, wide range of adaptable temperatures, and strong tolerance to water pollution, Fushou snails quickly spread to rivers, lakes, rice fields and other water environments, and flooded.
From April to June every year, it is the peak period of spawning and hatching of Fushou snails, and it is also the vigorous period when the harm of adult snails and old young snails is concentrated. Chu Shihai introduced that a female snail can ovulate many times in a row after fertilization once, and lay hundreds of eggs each time, or even more than 1,000 eggs. It usually lays about 10,000 eggs in a year, and the hatching rate is more than 90%.
In 2000, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the snail as one of the world's 100 malignant invasive alien species, and the only freshwater snail among them.
In 2003, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) added the snail to a "blacklist" of 16 alien species that had invaded China.
In 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture of the mainland included it in the first batch of "List of Invasive Alien Species under National Key Management" in the mainland.
On December 20, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in conjunction with multi-departmental organizations, formulated the "List of Key Management Invasive Alien Species", which was released, and Fushou snail was again included in it. The relevant person in charge has introduced that the selection basis of these invasive species is mainly based on four aspects: serious harm, rapid spread and spread, difficult prevention and control and various forms of harm.
Among them, "various forms of harm" refers to "containing toxins or causing serious harm to human and animal health through bites, in addition to threatening agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery production and biodiversity." ”
The snail is an intermediate host of zoonotic parasitic diseases, carrying 3,000 to 6,000 parasites, including Chorus spinosa. Among them, the most smelling is "Angiostrongylus cantonensis", also known as mouse lung nematode, whose larvae can parasitize the central nervous system of the human brain and continue to lay eggs and reproduce. The minimum incubation period is 1 day and the maximum is 35 days. Infected people will experience symptoms such as headache and fever, and in severe cases, blindness, paralysis, dementia, and even death.
The pink egg pods laid by the snail contain a protein neurotoxin called PcPV2, which may irritate the skin or eyes of the person in contact with it, causing symptoms such as rashes.