France’s love of frog legs spawns pre-Christmas criticism
France adores its cuisses de grenouilles. But some activists are hopping mad.
Consumption of the traditional French delicacy — frog legs usually sautéed with garlic and lemon juice or fried in breadcrumbs — peaks during Christmas season in France, according to activist groups, with around 100 million frogs killed each year to supply the market.
Now NGOs Robin de Bois and Pro Wildlife have launched a social media campaign on X and Facebook to get French consumers to think twice before they buy frog legs, pointing to possible species extinction, animal cruelty and the unsanitary conditions in which they are transported.
“Wherever frogs are depleted, and the natural insect controller has vanished, pesticide use is skyrocketing,” Sandra Altherr from Pro Wildlife told POLITICO.
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France — which banned local commercial frog hunting in the 1980s, with some exceptions — imports most edible frogs from countries such as Indonesia and Turkey, where their declining population threatens biodiversity.
According to a study on water frogs, the harvested frogs could become extinct by 2032 in southern Turkey. The situation was similar in India and Bangladesh in the 1980s, before the countries introduced an export ban. Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey and Albania have now become the main suppliers.
“Our analysis showed that France alone imports a total of more than 3,000 tons annually, 80 percent of which comes from Indonesia, 13 percent from Vietnam, 3.4 percent from Turkey and just under 1 percent from Albania," said Charlotte Nithart from NGO Robin des Bois in a press release.
The NGOs are calling on the EU to ensure there is clear traceability and transparency when it comes to imported frogs.
“We want a clear overview of the species, because as of now the Eurostat data only lists shows 'frog legs,'" Nithart told POLITICO, adding that frog species should also be listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (known as CITES). “This will not lead to a ban of the trade, but it can be controlled,” she argued.
The European Commission’s DG Environment did not respond to POLITICO's request for comment by the time of publication.