Australian toads may end up on Chinese menu

MELBOURNE - The cane toad, one of Australia’s notorious pests, may end up on the plate in China as a meat processor is negotiating a deal to export them.

Queensland meat processor John Burey said the toad’s poison is highly prized in Chinese medicine and the meat is also eaten in some parts of the country.

“(We) really have to nail down the export requirements that China’s going to place upon us and also what we have to do within Australia.

“Because if we start handling cane toads you’re talking about a venom that’s considered a class one drug in Australia so there’s licensing that has to be there,” ABC quoted him as saying Tuesday.

Burey, who will travel to China next month to negotiate a deal to export cane toads, said if the deal goes ahead it could be a solution to the pest problem.

“Initial thoughts are a bit like collecting aluminium cans, anyone can go out and collect them and lob them off at our collecting points and we would come around in our trucks and pick them up after that.”