Are the farmed eels sold in the market so big because they are fed contraceptives? Revealed!

gossip

"The farmed eels sold in the market are all fed with contraceptives, and long-term consumption will affect human health!" This is an old rumor that has troubled consumers and the aquaculture industry for more than a decade. There are rumors in many places that farmed eels are fed with contraceptives, so farmed eels are much larger than wild eels. Some people even took out a photo of a fish with its stomach filled with fish food, and swore that this was an eel that had eaten contraceptives! So, what is the truth? Why are farmed eels in the market larger than wild ones?

analyze

Don't worry, the eels sold in the market do not contain any contraceptives. On the one hand, contraceptives are very expensive, and on the other hand, adding contraceptives will also reduce the eel production, which is totally not worth the loss. Merchants will not do such a behavior that loses money and is illegal.

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Why Raise Eels?

Impossible to add contraceptive pills?

1. Contraceptives are expensive and adding them to feed eels will greatly increase breeding costs.

2. Most contraceptives contain estrogen. In the process of eel farming, the addition of estrogen requires professional scientific guidance. It is difficult for ordinary farmers to grasp the dosage. Improper dosage will cause the eel's reproductive glands to atrophy and affect production.

3. Contraceptives are mostly estrogen. Feeding eels with estrogen will increase the number of female eels and affect their transformation into males. Female eels are smaller than male eels. After adding contraceptives, the eel production actually decreased.

4. Even without considering the impact of hormones on gender, scientists have conducted experiments to prove that adding estrogen does not increase the size of female eels.

In summary, adding contraceptives to rice field eel farming is a completely illegal and costly thing that reduces production. The purpose of merchants and farmers is to make a profit, not to deliberately endanger the health of consumers.

Gender-changing eels

When we ordinary people talk about eels, we usually refer to the yellow eel. In addition to being rich in nutrition and excellent in flavor, the yellow eel also has an interesting characteristic - gender change.

The eel is a special animal with a miraculous sex reversal phenomenon. When the eel is born, it is female. As it grows up, it becomes intersex after laying eggs and eventually becomes male. Male eels are generally larger than female eels.

Farmed eels

Why are they generally larger than wild eels?

So the question is, why are the farmed eels sold on the market generally larger than their wild counterparts?

The reason is very simple: eat well, drink well and live well.

Compared with wild eels, farmed eels have nutritious feed to keep them full every day, and they don’t have to work hard to avoid natural enemies or find food, so they naturally grow bigger.

Moreover, most of the farmed eels on the market are sold after they turn into males, while the wild eels sold are both male and female. Generally speaking, the farmed eels on the market are naturally fatter.

River seafood family

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In addition to eels, other animals that have been deeply affected by the "contraceptive pills for fattening" rumors include loaches, tilapia, shrimps and hairy crabs.

But don't worry, these delicious river fish will not take birth control pills to fatten them up.

Contraceptive pills are too expensive, not only do they fail to promote fattening, they can also easily affect production, and there is also the risk of breaking the law.

I believe that this kind of thing that costs money and is not pleasing to the eye will not become popular.

in conclusion

Eels sold on the market do not contain contraceptives. On the one hand, contraceptives are expensive and adding them will increase the cost of breeding. On the other hand, adding contraceptives will reduce the yield of eels and make the eels smaller.

Farmed eels are larger than wild eels. This is because farmed eels eat well, drink well, live well, and lead a carefree life, so they naturally grow bigger.

References:

[1] Zhao Yunfang, Ke Xuntao. Effect of exogenous hormones on inducing sexual transformation of rice field eel[J]. Journal of Southwest Agricultural Sciences, 1992(01):74-78. DOI:10.16213/j.cnki.scjas.1992.01.014.

[2] Chu Zhangjie. Research on the regulatory pathway of sex reversal in rice field eel[D]. Huazhong Agricultural University, 2008.

[3]. Experts say there is no scientific basis for the rumor of using contraceptive pills to feed eels in Wuhan [J]. Aquaculture and Feed, 2011(09):79.

[4] Gong Wenjie, Gong Shiyuan, Chu Zhangjie, et al. Effects of exogenous hormone estradiol valerate on the growth of rice field eel[J]. Hubei Agricultural Sciences, 2009, 48(04): 937-939.

Author: Liu Aiqi

Review｜Han Hongwei, Researcher at the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center

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