There was widespread disgust when a Chinese restaurant was exposed for serving street pigeon in place of roasted duck earlier this month.
But just how much of a risk do shocking practices like these pose to the public—and could the same thing happen here in the UK?
Horrific footage taken inside Madrid’s Jin Gu Chinese revealed plucked and cooked pigeons and strips of gnarled meat hanging from clothes horses.
Local media also reported other unsanitary conditions at Madrid’s Jin Gu Chinese, including 300kg of rotten food, cockroaches and rat traps scattered across the floor.
The restaurant boasted excellent reviews, but customers reported feeling unwell after leaving—and complaints led to a major police investigation.
The horrific truth was uncovered during a raid on the premises on March 25.
In the UK, consuming street pigeons is illegal, as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects wild birds, their nests, and eggs.
And, while it is legal to eat some species if they were killed under a license, they cannot be sold for human consumption—with the exception of wood pigeon.
There was widespread disgust when a Chinese restaurant was exposed for serving street pigeon in place of roasted duck earlier this month
The incident raised the question of just how much risk shocking practices like these pose to the public—and whether the same thing could happen here in the UK
Horrific footage taken inside the eatery during a police raid revealed plucked and cooked pigeons and strips of gnarled meat hanging from clothes horses
Regardless of legal status, eating street pigeon is widely discouraged, due to serious health concerns.
The main worry, say experts, is that the birds could be carrying bacteria and fungi that can result in life-threatening illnesses.
According to expert pest control company Integrum Services, street pigeons can carry up to 60 different infectious diseases that can be transmitted to humans.
The British Pest Control Association adds that 49 percent of street pigeons are likely to carry a disease which can be passed onto humans.
Not only are feral pigeons carriers of pathogens, Integrum Services says, but also parasites which carry their own bacteria and spread disease.
The most common culprits include E.coli, salmonella and psittacosis.
Whilst most cases of E.coli and salmonella infections, which cause stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting, are not life-threatening, psittacosis can be fatal.
Once transmitted to humans, psittacosis—commonly referred to as ornithoses—can lead to respiratory complications.
Local media also reported other unsanitary conditions at Madrid’s Jin Gu Chinese, including 300kg of rotten food, cockroaches and rat traps scattered across the floor
The restaurant boasted excellent reviews, but customers reported feeling unwell after leaving—and complaints led to a police investigation
Symptoms include a high temperature, difficulty breathing, blurred vision and coughing up blood.
In more extreme cases, infections caused by the bacteria can lead to severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, especially when untreated in elderly or immunocompromised individuals.
Left untreated, The UK Health Security Agency warns psittacosis can also cause inflammation of the brain, heart or liver.
Whilst the thought of eating feral pigeons is enough to turn most people’s stomachs, consuming this off-menu substitute won’t necessarily result in food poisoning.
According to the pest management company, the primary method of transmission from bird to human is via their droppings—either via inhalation of contaminated particles or through direct contact.
When pigeon droppings dry up, they turn to dust particles which become airborne.
Once these contaminated particles reach the lungs, they are then absorbed into the bloodstream, causing infection and disease.
This is not to say, however, that humans cannot consume pigeon under any circumstances.
The British Pest Control Association adds that 49 percent of street pigeons are likely to carry a disease which can be passed onto humans
In the UK, consuming street pigeons is illegal, as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects wild birds, their nests, and eggs
In fact, Squab, the meat from younger pigeons, has been described by Food & Wine as ‘the tastiest bird you can legally eat’.
According to Chef Christopher Kostow, from the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, there is nothing like grilled squab.
But he is doubtful that pigeon will become a widely appreciated delicacy anytime soon: ‘At the end of the day, it is pigeon.
‘People see pigeons rooting around the garbage cans, so I doubt it,’ he told Food & Wine.
The Jin Gu restaurant, in the Usera district of the Spanish capital, was raided on March 25 by police, who made sickening discoveries.
Shocking footage taken inside the restaurant by officers showed a bag full of dirtied meat, and bowls of plucked and cooked street pigeons.
Local media also reported that the restaurant had eight faulty freezers filled with bags of unlabelled and undated meat and fish, cockroaches in the kitchen, as well as a litany of rat traps across the floor.
The Chinese restaurant also held several prohibited and illegal items, including sea cucumbers, which are protected by strict marine laws.
The restaurant was ordered to close and its owner is being investigated for alleged public health crimes.
The raid came after it was revealed Beach Blanket Babylon, a Notting Hill restaurant frequented by Royals, Rita Ora and Selena Gomez, has been shut down after a disgusting discovery in the food.
The food served by the posh West London restaurant was contaminated with mouse droppings.
Following this failure to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, Kensington and Chelsea Council officers filed legal action against business operators Robert Kenneth Newmark and Conor George Thomson-Moore.
The pair have since admitted serious food offences, pleading guilty to four charges at City of London Magistrates Court earlier this month.
The charges against Mr Newmark have now been dropped.
Kensington and Chelsea Council officers inspected the restaurant in September 2022 and found a serious mice infestation, cockroaches and rats.
Excrement was also found around the premises, as well as food contaminated with mice faeces and packets of till white seeds, cocoa powder and flaked almonds gnawed by mice.
