Can you eat pond snails?

[FaZe_Epic]

Going camping me and my friend found some but don't know if we can eat them

 

[FJB]

I assume you are referring to snails in the family Viviparidae.
Of course you can eat them, but should not do it. They frequently harbor some nasty parasites, including some that carry serious animal and human diseases.
They are commonly eaten in a number of countries in South east Asia, and their cousins (Ampullaridae) are eaten in Mexico and other Latin American countries. And they carry serious pathogens as well.
So... not a good idea.

 

[the loach]

But I assume the folks in all of those countries would cook or bake the snails, killing the parasites, right?

 

[FaZe_Epic]

I assume you are referring to snails in the family Viviparidae.
Of course you can eat them, but should not do it. They frequently harbor some nasty parasites, including some that carry serious animal and human diseases.
They are commonly eaten in a number of countries in South east Asia, and their cousins (Ampullaridae) are eaten in Mexico and other Latin American countries. And they carry serious pathogens as well.
So... not a good idea.

Can you kill the parasites in any way? We were going to cook or boil them. Also, is there any way to check if they're dead?

 

[the loach]

It's an odd question for this forum. People here keep these snails as pets, and don't eat them. While they might be a delicacy in those countries, like many of the fish we keep, our members don't have any specific advice about preparing them.
You better do a search how they do that, essentially it's no different as beef, fish, whatever, it all has parasites that are killed by cooking, snails are no different.

 

[FaZe_Epic]

It's an odd question for this forum. People here keep these snails as pets, and don't eat them. While they might be a delicacy in those countries, like many of the fish we keep, our members don't have any specific advice about preparing them.
You better do a search how they do that, essentially it's no different as beef, fish, whatever, it all has parasites that are killed by cooking, snails are no different.

Are there any ways to find out if they're dead?

 

[dudley]

Any chance you can post a pic of the snails? What location will you be camping at?

I don't think anyone can reliably tell you whether the snails are safe to eat or whether any possible parasites will be killed by cooking. Heck we don't even know if those particular snails are safe to eat.

 

[Adler]

Are there any ways to find out if they're dead?

The only way I can tell if it is dead is by seeing the shell without body... seriously where do their bodies go???

 

[Sprinkle]

The only way I can tell if it is dead is by seeing the shell without body... seriously where do their bodies go???

Or just smell them to see if they stink.

 

[NoodleCats]

The only way I can tell if it is dead is by seeing the shell without body... seriously where do their bodies go???

Fish eat them?

My cories for some reason go bonkers over crushed snail