I recently came across a quote from a Canadian physician (cite: Dr. Heilbut?) that warned against eating Escargot (ever) due to a high risk of contracting Hepatitis A.
I’ve done some googling on the matter and thus far, this appears to be an entirely bogus claim. I think that the escargot sold for public consumption are farmed in controlled environments as opposed to the wild varieties of scavenger crustaceans that can cary Hep. A. I imagine there are far more technical reasons why snails can’t be carriers but that is the first idea that came to mind.
So is there any validity to the claim that Hepititis infection can possibly be caused by escargot or was that physician mistaken?
I am not aware of a specific link to escargot, but in general Hepatitis A is transmitted by contact with (any) contaminated source, so avoiding snails in particular is pretty silly.
Of course, a batch of snails could be contaminated but so could your next bologna sandwich from the local deli.
IIRC, and I may not, something like half of US adults over age 50 have antibodies to Hepatitis A. Not much use trying to avoid it.
All the snails I’ve ever eaten have been served at a temperature close to that of boiling butter. I have a hard time believing that a virus can survive that.
well to be fair, shellfish is also typically served at the temperature of boiling butter and I believe (not having actually researched that angle) that there is a known link to contracting the virus from that source.