Recently, on a Chinese short video platform, there have been posts about a large-scale purchase of rats, along with videos showing the cooking of rat meat. Some breeders have been sharing experiences in raising rats and discussing the benefits of consuming rat meat, sparking attention on the internet.
According to reports from Upstream News, a man named Mr. Pan (alias) claims to primarily purchase rats in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions. In the video, there are hundreds of rats running around on shelves in a dilapidated house, with Mr. Pan feeding them food, suggesting a breeding operation. Additionally, he has also posted videos of the initial processing of rats and cooking rat meat.
On October 24th, the media contacted Mr. Pan, who mentioned, “There’s a saying that eating one rat is equivalent to eating three female chickens.” He explained that he mainly acquires rats for temporary keeping and later sells them after initial processing to coastal areas. “Most of them are caught in the wild and some are bred, but the ones bred are few, usually ranging from tens to hundreds.”
Mr. Pan stated that the rats he acquires and sells are mostly mountain rats and field rats, and their activities are not in violation of the law.
Reports mention that on the short video platform, many accounts posting videos on rat breeding have IP addresses located in Guangxi. These accounts also use live streaming to promote methods of breeding rats and the benefits of consuming them.
Upstream News reporters contacted rat buyers and breeders in Sichuan, Guangxi, and other regions, discovering that most of these rodents are captured in the wild, with a minority being bred. They are mainly sold to coastal areas, with prices reaching as high as seventy to eighty yuan per pound.
A breeder in Guilin claimed to raise “White-bellied mountain rats” or “White-bellied mountain rats” with around thousands of rats affiliated with a cooperative. Some are also sold to the coastal areas. The breeder highlighted that larger-scale breeding operations require registration with relevant authorities, whereas smaller operations are usually not problematic as long as they do not disturb or impact the surroundings.
Although local authorities in Guilin warned that both domestic and wild rats are sources of various diseases, selling them as food is strictly prohibited under the Food Safety Law and the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Law.
Reports suggest that on the short video platform, some rural farmhouses and local restaurants promote rat meat dishes, with many food bloggers and netizens engaging with these content.
Regarding claims of higher nutritional value and the mantra of “one rat equals three chickens,” Associate Professor Fan Zhihong from the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at China Agricultural University remarked that these statements might be exaggerated. While rat meat may contain high protein levels, it is not equivalent to two pounds of chicken meat.
Liu Quansheng cautioned that rodents are intermediate hosts for several zoonotic diseases, meaning they carry diseases without showing symptoms but can transmit them to humans and animals, regardless of whether they are caught in the fields or kept as pets. The consumption of wild animals always carries risks of disease transmission or parasitic infections.
This matter has sparked widespread discussions among the public.
Many netizens reported previous encounters with rat meat, with some revealing they lacked the courage to try it. Others expressed shock and disgust, questioning the safety of food and calling for stricter food safety regulations. Observations ranged from astonishment to revulsion, with comments such as, “This is horrifying, how can people eat such things teeming with pathogens?” and “It’s nauseating to think about, what has become of people nowadays when even their mindset isn’t normal.”