Foreigners put skids under Gallic snails

GENUINELY French snails are at risk of extinction due to an onslaught of eastern European imposters, producers of genuine Gallic gastropods have warned.

As the “hunting season” for picking wild Burgundy snails opened this week, snail farmers said their “true French” escargots — a national gastronomic emblem — would soon be off the menu for good.

They warn that 90% of snails found smothered in butter, garlic and parsley in French restaurants and shops do not come from Burgundy, or even from France; they are, in fact, mainly reared or picked in Poland or Romania, where they are killed and boiled before being sent to France to be packaged for sale.

Leading the charge to save the genuinely French-reared snail is centrist senator Yves Détraigne, who has written to the agricultural ministry calling for urgent action.

“Among the 30 000 tons of snails consumed in our country each year, only 800 to 1 000 tons are produced by 250 to 300 French snail farmers who guarantee consumers true quality in terms of taste and hygiene,” he wrote.

While French farmers must stipulate where their snails come from, there are no longer such rules on the “type and provenance” of snails imported from abroad.

“The rules on foreign provenance were changed in June last year, no doubt under pressure from big food groups here who want to be able to call their snails French,” said Carole Milan head of Aspersa, the French snail farmers’ association. — © The Daily Telegraph, London