Banned — Blood Clams: a dangerous delicacy
Since pre-history, mankind has had an affinity for clams. As humans migrated throughout the world and settled near rivers and along the coastlines, exposing them to the delicacy of clams.
They presented an easily transported and highly nutritious meal, commonly found in estuaries or little more than two feet under the waves and ranging in size from a 0.1mm to 1.2 metres, they came to be a staple of many coastal and islander diets. It has been estimated that early man was such an avid consumer of clams that some species of giant clam declined by as much as 70% as we migrated.
Once humans settled and moved away from a hunter gather lifestyle to an agricultural one, those that lived on islands, by the coast and near rivers continued to eat clams, and eventually cultivate them themselves on vast mud flats, in shallow rivers and shorelines and in estruses’. Evidence has been found of the Romans love for clams, as well as early Puerto Ricans over 2500 years ago, which further evidence suggesting the clams were likely farmed in both these instances.
Had our ancient ancestors been blessed with our modern understanding of health though, they may have stayed away from, Anadara granosa, aka Blood Clams. Cultivated in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and Southeast Asia, but especially in China, these clams have risen to notoriety…
