Claim: Social media post claim that five tons of frog meat was seized by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) and Punjab Police, and two people in Lahore were arrested in connection with the case. The meat is being used at hotels and restaurants in the city as a replacement for chicken.
Fact: The claim is false. PFA stated that no such raid occurred in the city. So far, no complaints regarding using frog meat in restaurants or hotels in Lahore have been registered.
On 14 December 2022, a Facebook user posted an image of frogs with the Urdu language caption:
لاہور پولیس نے فوڈ انسپکٹر کے ساتھ چھاپہ مار کر لاہور میں دو افراد کو پانچ من مینڈک کے گوشت سمیت گرفتار کر لیا. لوگ حیران ہیں کہ مینڈک کس کام کیلئے لے جائے جا رہے تھے؟ تو آپ سب کی اطلاع کیلئے عرض ھے کہ مینڈک کا گوشت وہائیٹ میٹ میں شمار ہوتا ھے. دریائے راوی کے کیچڑ ميں بہت صحتمند مینڈک با افراط پائے جاتے ہیں، سائز بھی خوب ہوتا ہے. جہاں جہاں چکن کے کباب فروخت کئے جاتے ہیں، بالخصوص متوسط طبقہ والے علاقوں میں، وہاں یہی گوشت مرغی کے قیمہ میں مکس کرکے استعمال کیا جاتا ھے، اسی قیمہ سے چائینز ڈشز، اعلیٰ کوالٹی کے چکن نگٹس، برگر پیٹیز وغیرہ بھی بنائے جاتے ہیں، یہ سب ان دکانوں کو سپلائی کئے جاتے ہیں جہاں آپ کو 100 روپے کا زنگر برگر یا 10 روپے کے تین چکن نگٹس تازہ فرائی کرکے دیئے جاتے ہیں ۔۔۔۔۔۔ سردیوں میں انہی مینڈکوں کا گوشت چکن سوپ میں بھی استعمال کیا جاتا ھے۔ لسٹ بہت طویل ھے، لیکن نتیجہ ایک….!!! کھانا ہمیشہ گھر کا ھی اچھا.
Translation: The police along with the food inspector arrested two people in Lahore along with five tons of frog meat. Do people wonder what the frogs were there for? So for your information, frog meat is considered white meat. In the mud of Ravi River, very healthy frogs are found in abundance and they are a good size. Wherever chicken kebabs are sold, especially in middle-class areas, the same meat is mixed with chicken mince and used in Chinese dishes, high-quality chicken nuggets, burger patties, etc. All these are supplied to the shops where you get a 100 rupees Zingerburger or 10 rupees three chicken nuggets freshly fried. In winter, the meat of these frogs is also used in chicken soup. The list is very long, but the result is one…!!! Food is always good at home.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reached out to the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) to investigate the claim’s authenticity. Director of Public Relations at PFA Syed Umair Hassan confirmed that no such raid took place in Lahore or any other city in the province. He asserted that the news circulating on social media has no truth to it. He also said that they are in touch with the Punjab Police and neither entity have any information about the apparent raid.
A source from the PFA also confirmed that they have not received any complaints about the use of frog meat in restaurants or hotels. They further stated that similar false information was previously shared in 2019.
Soch Fact Check also tried to contact the Directorate of Public Relations Punjab Police Osama Mehmood, but no response was received at the time of publication.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 30-day period from 19 November to 20 December using the following search term:
- ” پولیس نے فوڈ انسپکٹر کے ساتھ چھاپہ مار کر لاہور میں دو افراد کو پانچ من مینڈک کے گوشت سمیت گرفتار کر لیا.”
The search term received 3,166 interactions across 51 posts on Facebook. The false claim was first shared in a group Pti Pak Lovers on 11 December 2022. The other posts with the most interactions can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Twitter, the false news can be found here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The news circulating on social media regarding frog meat being used in restaurants and hotels in Lahore is false. The Punjab Food Authority did not seize five tons of frog meat and the posts claiming otherwise are false.