Bullfrog. Photo: The Paper

Bullfrog samples from a popular hotpot restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, were found to contain furacilin metabolites, an antimicrobial drug that is widely used in treating animal diseases but harmful to human. The restaurant responded that the batch of bullfrogs had not been used in its dishes. 

A batch of bullfrogs collected from GeLaoGuan hotpot restaurant in Binjiang district, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, was found to contain furacilin metabolites during a random inspection, according to the official account of the Hangzhou Market Supervision and Administration Bureau on Monday. The results showed that the furacilin metabolite content in the bullfrogs was 3.2g per kilogram, while any trace renders it unfit for consumption.

GeLaoGuan Chongqing Meiwa Fish Head, established in Shanghai in 2014, is a nationwide restaurant chain famous for its bullfrog hotpot. A staff member told the Global Times on Thursday that the disqualified batch of bullfrogs had not been used in the restaurant.

"We strictly follow the rule of testing before use when we provide dishes to our customers," said the staff member. The hotpot restaurant is currently still open.

According to a document on the official website of the Hangzhou Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, furacilin is a synthetic broad-spectrum antimicrobial drug that can be used to treat animal diseases. In recent years, furacilin has been widely used in animal husbandry and aquaculture, but the residues of furacilin and its metabolites in animal-derived food can be passed to humans through the food chain.

The bureau announced that a total of 275 kilograms of bullfrogs, which were not qualified to be cooked, were purchased by the company from Shanghai on September 14. Local market supervision authorities have launched an investigation into the hotpot restaurant.