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Saffron to Caviar: 9 of the world's most expensive food items

From coffee made out of poop to the one exported from a remote island in the middle of Atlantic Ocean – these are the most expensive coffee in the world

When you’re loaded and have an overflowing bank account, you can do a lot of things with your money- like splurge it on the five most <keyword id="783408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Expensive-Food">expensive food</keyword> and <keyword id="87180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="desserts">desserts</keyword> in the world. 
 
Afterall, you know what they say? The way to one’s heart is right through their stomach. 
 
But, wait. Are you okay with breaking your bank? 
 
And, most importantly. Are these food items really worth it? It’s time to find out. 
 
Image credit: DailyMail

Five of the world's most outrageously expensive dishes

Much can happen over a cup of <keyword id="6354798" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="coffee">coffee</keyword> – so goes the popular saying. But have you ever considered your everyday <keyword id="2026289" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cup-of-Joe">Cup of Joe</keyword> as a <keyword id="2026290" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Millionaires-drink">millionaire’s drink</keyword>? At least, some people are spending millions on coffee, either collectively or individually, without even realising how much is spent. But if you are not careful, your <keyword id="2026311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Daily-coffee">daily coffee</keyword> habit can really dent your bank account. 
 Of course, the physical coffee market all over the world is sluggish right now due to a huge surplus from <keyword id="6355226" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Brazil">Brazil</keyword> and recent high yields from South and <keyword id="162386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Central-America">Central America</keyword>. But that is not likely to bring down store prices in 2014. Most of the big companies make long-term purchases throughout the year and the current slump in coffee prices, as much as 30%, won’t benefit <keyword id="2026305" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Coffee-drinkers">coffee drinkers</keyword> in the short term. 
 But don’t lose heart. You are, after all, in the millionaires’ club and here are five interesting facts about coffee (and accessories) that involve big bucks. Have fun while you read and the next time you are in Costa or <keyword id="6377922" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Starbucks">Starbucks</keyword>, just remember this is no longer the black and bitter drink you have always bought for a few bucks but a noble beverage that attracts the rich and the famous. 
 
See who’s drinking &amp; how much you are shelling out Starbucks’ booming business might have led you to believe in America’s growing love affair with coffee, but a recent survey by Euromonitor shows the country is nowhere among the top 15 coffee-drinking nations. So who tops the obsession list now? <keyword id="77570" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="The-Netherlands">The Netherlands</keyword>, with per capita consumption of 2.414 cups a day that almost equals the combined consumption of the US, the UK, Spain and <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="France">France</keyword>. The US is at No. 16, with a per head consumption of 0.931 cup a day. However, the US still spends a whopping $4 billion on <keyword id="2026325" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Coffee-import">coffee import</keyword>. An average coffee drinker spends about $4,500 a year on coffee or $180,000 throughout his/her career. What about savings, we wonder. 
 
 
 
World’s most expensive coffee – will it turn you off? If you are an animal lover, you should stay off the smoothest coffee called <keyword id="1347492" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kopi-Luwak">Kopi Luwak</keyword> (Indonesian for <keyword id="672295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Civet-coffee">civet coffee</keyword>) that can cost as much as $30-100 for a cup in <keyword id="6354968" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="London">London</keyword> and <keyword id="6355838" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="New-York">New York</keyword>. But just like the discovery of original coffee beans, a freak event led to the discovery of the most luxurious coffee. In colonial <keyword id="8692" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indonesia">Indonesia</keyword>, workers were forbidden to consume coffee beans collected from the plant. However, wild <keyword id="2026332" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Asian-palm-civets">Asian palm civets</keyword> often ate the ripest <keyword id="2026341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Coffee-cherries">coffee cherries</keyword> and the semi-digested beans were picked up from their excretion, cleaned and roasted by plantation workers. It was soon learnt that these beans get a unique aroma and rich, heavy flavour with hints of caramel and chocolate. Today, Kopi Luwak is mostly mass produced by feeding the caged civets. 
 
 
 
Clover, Clover… on the counter Forget the instant, the espresso; it’s the age of brew, at a cost, of course. But you won’t mind shelling out more at Starbucks if you are trying a Clover cup of brew. Clover is a state-of-the-art coffee-maker that uses vacuum-press technology to brew one cup at a time. It also lets one select the brewing time and temperature to coax the best flavour out of the particular bean. Each machine costs around $11,000, but as Starbucks has bought the company six years ago, one can imagine the kind of investment it has made to serve ‘personalised’ coffee. By the end of 2014, the company is planning to double the number of its locations around the world that offer the premium Clover brewing system. As of now, Clover machines are used in 25 US markets and 10 international destinations, including the UK, the <keyword id="44173" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Netherlands">Netherlands</keyword>, Russia, Poland, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and <keyword id="6387116" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kuwait">Kuwait</keyword>. 
 
 
 
A million-dollar date <keyword id="271" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="actor">Actor</keyword> <keyword id="23387" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Matt-Damon">Matt Damon</keyword>, the latest recipient of the prestigious Crystal Award at the 2014 <keyword id="69007" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="World-Economic-Forum">World Economic Forum</keyword> in <keyword id="100810" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Davos">Davos</keyword>, is one Hollywood star who mostly turns down advertisement offers and product endorsement deals. But even he got caught in a date with coffee and recently appeared in a 20 second TV commercial for an espresso coffee machine brand in the UK. His <keyword id="209459" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="co-actor">co-actor</keyword> was the legendary <keyword id="11804" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="George-Clooney">George Clooney</keyword> and the commercial was directed by <keyword id="894822" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Grant-Heslov">Grant Heslov</keyword>. The outing earned Damon $3 million – not exactly a bad deal. Interestingly, Clooney has been the face of the <keyword id="2026356" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nestl-coffee-brand">Nestlé coffee brand</keyword> outside the US since 2006. 
 
 
 
<keyword id="2026357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Still-Life-with-Coffee-Pot">Still Life with Coffee Pot</keyword> – even that fetches a million Who says a <keyword id="2026362" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Coffee-pot">coffee pot</keyword> can't fetch you millions? At least a suitably inspired artwork does. This painting by Scotsman <keyword id="2026301" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Samuel-John-Peploe">Samuel John Peploe</keyword> dates back to 1905 and was auctioned at <keyword id="771850" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Christies">Christie’s</keyword> in 2011 for just under £1 million. The price for the painting, including the buyer’s premium, was £937,250 and it easily broke the earlier record of <keyword id="2026292" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="The-Singing-Butler">The Singing Butler</keyword>, a work by former <keyword id="199578" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Coal-miner">coal miner</keyword> <keyword id="2026298" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jack-Vettriano">Jack Vettriano</keyword>. The real-life coffee pot is still around and belongs to <keyword id="2026299" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Elizabeth-Peploe">Elizabeth Peploe</keyword>, the <keyword id="1150" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Artist">artist</keyword>’s daughter-in-law. 
 
Images: Wikipedia, Gizmodo

5 Million-dollar
Coffee Facts You Might Have Missed

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Kopi luwak is a coffee delicacy made from civet feces and is popular in Bali.</li><li>A PETA investigation found civets kept in cages where workers harvest their feces.</li></ul>In Bali, opting for beans made from the poop of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kopi-luwak-cat-poop-worlds-most-expensive-coffee-taste-test-2018-11">civets</a> is the most expensive way to take your coffee. Every year, tourists travel to the Indonesian island and drink civet coffee — locally known as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/civet-coffee-most-expensive-2012-10">kopi luwak</a> — at the more than a dozen <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=kopi+luwak+bali&amp;sca_esv=7f485625a55f820f&amp;biw=712&amp;bih=686&amp;tbm=lcl&amp;sxsrf=ACQVn09T3Kr9UPIAdkfyRsDT_RE4ASFCyw%3A1710492714321&amp;ei=Kgz0ZdeVE-6RseMPntq8kAg&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjX0oL18fWEAxXuSGwGHR4tD4IQ4dUDCAk&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=kopi+luwak+bali&amp;gs_lp=Eg1nd3Mtd2l6LWxvY2FsIg9rb3BpIGx1d2FrIGJhbGkyCxAAGIAEGIoFGJECMgsQABiABBiKBRiRAjILEAAYgAQYigUYkQIyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeSMcUULIEWJoTcAJ4AJABAZgBswGgAaIJqgEEMTQuMrgBA8gBAPgBAZgCEaACwwjCAgQQIxgnwgIKEAAYgAQYigUYQ8ICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAg4QABiABBiKBRixAxiDAcICDRAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQPCAg0QABiABBgUGIcCGLEDwgIEEAAYA5gDAIgGAZIHBDE2LjGgB6yDAQ&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-local#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[-8.163386542671795,115.98412809662304],[-8.898112350860012,114.9280673056074]]">cafés and farms</a> listed on Google Maps.But the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peta-cofounder-send-elon-musk-part-heart-when-she-dies-2023-6">People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals</a>, or PETA, said in an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1NZRAZM12Q">investigative video</a> posted on YouTube on March 5 that tourists should be wary of drinking kopi luwak, as the coffee beans are collected from civets kept in wire cages.The video comprised footage of several civets held in captivity. Jason Baker, the senior vice president of PETA, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/08/what-is-civet-coffee-peta-issues-a-new-warning-to-bali-tourists.html#:~:text=CNBC%20Travel-,A%20new%20warning%20to%20Bali%20tourists%3A%20'Stay%20away,from%20civet%20coffee%2C'%20says%20PETA&amp;text=If%20the%20idea%20of%20drinking,reason%20to%20rethink%20the%20drink.">CNBC</a> that the footage was taken at a farm in Catur, a small town 30 miles north of Ubud that's popular for trekking in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bali-digital-nomad-cost-jobs-career-guide-lifestyle-2023-3">Bali</a>.In the video, one person could be heard saying the coffee beans are collected from the civet droppings found in the "wild jungle" — but PETA wrote in the video that this isn't true."Deliberately misleading claims about how civet coffee is obtained are rampant in Bali," the video's in-text caption read.One person, whom PETA identified as a kopi luwak peddler, said that tourists don't know that the civets are held captive."That's because we forcibly [confine] them," the person said in response to the investigator asking if kopi luwak is better than regular coffee.The video ends with the in-text caption: "Don't be fooled. There is no ethically made civet coffee."Baker told CNBC that it's not possible to produce kopi luwak in mass quantities without caging civets. He said civets were also found to have been fed rotten coffee berries, covered in feces, and had open wounds. The Bali Tourism Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider regarding its regulations on producing and selling kopi luwak on the island."But the confinement, suffering, and sadness endured by civet cats for kopi luwak aren't among them. Tourists be warned: stay away from civet coffee," he said. PETA and Baker did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.Kopi luwak is made by cleaning and roasting partially digested coffee beans excreted by civets. Kopi luwak is also known for its high price point, costing between $45 and $600 per pound, Baker told CNBC. It's big business — according to data from the Ohio-based research company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sphericalinsights.com/press-release/kopi-luwak-coffee-market">Spherical Insights,</a> the market size of the kopi luwak industry was worth $7.16 billion, which is projected to grow to $11 billion by 2032.It's not the first time PETA has called for tourists to boycott kopi luwak. In 2022, PETA said tourists should avoid the kopi luwak after civets were found to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X14aKf7_2Vk">distressed</a> when their feces were collected.

Coffee beans made from civet poop is big money in Bali. But PETA says tourists should avoid it as the animals are kept in cages and fed rotten berries.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Don MacKinnon/Getty ImagesUrban Fare store manager Leanne Ring displays a package of Kopi Luwak coffee on September 12, 2002 in Vancouver, Canada.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Before visiting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/bali" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bali, Indonesia</a>, many people had told me that I had to try Kopi Luwak, a traditional Balinese <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/coffee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coffee</a> considered to be the most <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/expensive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expensive</a> coffee in the world.</li><li>Kopi Luwak is coffee made from beans that have been digested by a civet cat (i.e. "cat poop coffee"). Balinese farmers have touted for generations that this method produces the best-tasting coffee.</li><li>But lots of kopi luwak is produced by civets held in disturbing, inhumane conditions. And even when I tried it at one of the few coffee shops that keeps its civets in humane conditions, the coffee tasted bitter and overly earthy.</li></ul> I'm the kind of person that likes to try everything. Live octopus in Korea? Check. Braised chicken feet at the dim sum hall in Hong Kong? Check. Chili-dusted, roasted grasshoppers in Mexico? Check.Before I travel, I usually research which unique foods are revered by the culture I'm visiting. When I began researching for a trip to Bali, a gorgeous Indonesian island in Southeast Asia, I found that the most talked about local specialty was kopi luwak.Kopi luwak is coffee made from coffee cherries that have been eaten, digested, and defecated by the Asian palm civet, a small mammal that looks like a cross between a cat and a raccoon. The beans are then cleaned and processed. In the West, kopi luwak has become known as "cat poop coffee."With prices ranging <a href="http://www.most-expensive.coffee/">between $35 and $100 a cup</a>, or about $100 to $600 a pound, kopi luwak is widely considered to be the most expensive coffee in the world.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Ulet Ifansasti/Getty ImagesCivet dung is prepared during the production of Civet coffee, the world's most expensive coffee at Bondowoso on August 11, 2009 in East Java, near Surabaya, Indonesia.</div></div></div>Indonesian coffee producers have claimed for generations that the kopi luwak method produces the best tasting coffee in the world. There are a few reasons for that.One, the civet is apparently a highly picky eater and will only eat the best, most ripe coffee cherries. Two, the animals' digestive enzymes "change the structure of proteins in the coffee beans, which removes some of the acidity to make a smoother cup of coffee," <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160429-kopi-luwak-captive-civet-coffee-Indonesia/">according to National Geographic</a>. And three, digestion removes all the fruit pulp that sometimes gets left on the bean during processing.But there are a few very big catches.<h2>Increased demand for kopi luwak has changed the industry - for the worse</h2>When, in decades past, kopi luwak was simply an Indonesian specialty, it was almost exclusively produced by wild civets. The animals would graze in the wilderness, picking the choicest cherries at their leisure, and coffee producers would hunt for the dung. But ever since coffee expert Tony Wild introduced kopi luwak to the West in the early 1990s as the coffee director of <a href="http://www.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/home.asp?storyid=%7B7C71F1DA-3342-4609-8B5D-CFF83E35E7F2%7D">Taylors of Harrogate</a>, all that's changed. There's now a huge demand for the specialty coffee. It's stocked at luxury retailers all over the world, production has expanded to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines, and, in Indonesia, it's one of the biggest delicacies marketed to tourists.As you can imagine, it's not wild civets producing the kopi luwak anymore. While there are still some wild civet operations, the vast majority of kopi luwak is made from civets that have been captured and put in cages on giant plantations. "Similar to foie gras geese, they're basically force-fed coffee berries," Suwanna Gauntlett, founder of Wildlife Alliance, a conservation group, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/03/21/civet-poop-coffee-southeast-asia-globalpost/82066314/">told Globalpost</a> in 2016. Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-disappointing-places-in-the-world-photos-list-2018-10">I've been traveling the world for 6 months, and I've found real life doesn't always live up to the hype. These are the most disappointing places I've been</a><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Nicky Loh/Getty Images for World Animal ProtectionA caretaker feeds coffee seeds to a civet cat inside a 'Kopi Luwak' or Civet coffee farm and cafe on May 27, 2013 in Tampaksiring, Bali, Indonesia.</div></div></div>As Wild wrote in a 2013 column<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/sep/13/civet-coffee-cut-the-crap"> calling for an end to kopi luwak</a>, civets "suffer greatly" from being caged. Naturally solitary, the civets suffer stress when living in close proximity to each other, have numerous health problems due to the coffee-cherry diet, chew on their own legs, and often die.Even if you don't care about animal welfare, there's the reality that the coffee just doesn't taste that good. Many say that kopi luwak was discovered <a href="http://nordiccoffeeculture.com/what-kopi-luwak-is-and-why-you-should-avoid-it/">during Dutch colonial rule,</a> when Indonesian farmers were barred from harvesting coffee cherries for their own use. They had to scrounge around to get beans. The dung of the wild civet supposedly provided a shortcut to high-quality, cleaned coffee cherries free from the mold or decay that would've been common at the time.But any premium coffee <a href="http://nordiccoffeeculture.com/what-kopi-luwak-is-and-why-you-should-avoid-it/">you get at your local coffee shop comes from cherries</a> processed via far more advanced methods than kopi luwak and from uniformly ripe, high-quality cherries, according to Nordic Coffee Culture.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Harrison Jacobs/Business InsiderKopi luwak at Satu Satu cafe.</div></div></div><h2>I tried kopi luwak sourced from a family farm - and it was nothing special</h2>When I got to Bali, I visited the Satu Satu Café in Canggu, a small coastal town. Satu Satu <a href="https://munchies.vice.com/en_uk/article/wnbdwn/balis-best-coffee-is-made-with-wild-cat-poo">sources its kopi luwak from owner Eddie Sudana's six-acre family farm</a>. It's reputed to be one of the few places that still sources its beans from cage-free, wild civets.I figured if I had to try kopi luwak, at least I could do it at a place that makes it ethically. It wasn't even that expensive. If I remember correctly, it was only about 30-40% more than the regular coffee at Satu Satu.I love coffee. Espresso, French press, Aeropress, cold-brew, pour-over - I drink it all. The kopi luwak was nothing special. It tasted slightly smoother than your average diner cup of joe, but not better than ones I've had at any coffee shop worth its salt. And there was a gritty, overly earthy flavor.To be honest, I've made better cups of coffee in my Aeropress. At this point in time, drinking kopi luwak is more about being able to tell your friends you drank the most expensive coffee in the world than some amazing delicacy. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/places-on-google-maps-you-cant-see-2016-11">7 places you can't find on Google Maps</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

I tried a cup of the 'most expensive coffee in the world' -&#160;here's why it's a tourist trap you shouldn't buy into

Kham/ReutersA man holds a pangolin at a wild-animal rescue center in Cuc Phuong, outside Hanoi, Vietnam, September 12, 2016.<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus outbreak</a> that originated in Wuhan, China, has killed at least 630 people and infected more than 31,500 across 26 countries.</li><li>Coronaviruses are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">zoonotic diseases</a>, meaning they jump from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-many-other-disease-outbreaks-to-come-2020-1">animals to humans</a>. </li><li>The Wuhan coronavirus <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-genome-close-to-sars-originated-in-bats-2020-2">originated in bats</a>. One group of researchers says bats may have passed the virus to pangolins, which then passed it to humans.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-wuhan-coronavirus-compared-to-sars-2020-1">SARS coronavirus</a>, which killed 774 people in the early 2000s, jumped from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-genome-close-to-sars-originated-in-bats-2020-2">bats to civets, then to people</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Genetic research has all but confirmed that the new <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus spreading in China</a> - called nCoV-2019 - originally came from bats.But experts are still racing to pin down another key piece of the zoonotic puzzle: which animal species served as the virus' intermediary between bats and people.Many possibilities have been floated, including snakes (which is unlikely), pigs, and a weasel-like animal called a civet that passed SARS from bats to people in 2002. Now, a group of researchers from South China Agricultural University in Guangdong <a href="https://scau.edu.cn/2020/0207/c1300a219015/page.htm">suggest the coronavirus' intermediate host</a> might have been the pangolin, an endangered mammal.According to China's Xinhua news agency, the researchers found that samples of coronaviruses taken from wild pangolins and from infected patients are 99% identical.But this research has yet to be published or confirmed by other experts. <h2>From pangolins to people?</h2>The novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan has so far killed more than 630 people and infected more than 31,500. Many coronaviruses are zoonotic diseases, meaning they spread to humans from animals. In the case of this one, experts think the virus first infected people at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where live animals were sold. SARS, which is also a coronavirus, jumped to people at a wet market. too. It originated in bats as well.Felix Wong/South China Morning Post/GettyA Chinese wet market.At least one species of pangolin can die from coronaviruses, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/11/979">according to a study</a> published last year. That strengthens the theory that the new coronavirus could have jumped from bats to these creatures before making its way into humans."I can definitely believe it could be true," Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at Scripps Research, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2">told Nature</a>. "I look forward to the published report and data."A pangolin resembles a scaly anteater. Its keratin scales are used as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicinal remedies, and its meat is a delicacy in China and Vietnam.All eight pangolin species are threatened with extinction, according to the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/search">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>. Pangolins were the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/pangolins/">most trafficked non-human species</a> in the world in 2013, according to National Geographic; the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species declared pangolin trade illegal in 2016. In China, illegal animal trading is punishable by steep fines and <a href="https://qz.com/1142567/pangolin-trafficking-china-seized-record-haul-of-the-worlds-most-trafficked-mammal/">jail time</a>. It's not yet clear whether any pangolins (or bats, for that matter) were sold at the Huanan market.<h2>Other possible intermediaries: pigs and civets</h2><a href="https://nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2012-7">A study</a> published Monday in the journal Nature found that the new coronavirus shares 96% of its genetic code with coronaviruses circulating in Chinese bat populations. The research also showed that the virus can dock to a receptor in human cells called ACE2, deep in people's lungs.That same receptor exists in bats, pigs, and civets, which is why they're the most likely intermediary-species candidates. Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto/GettyAn Asian palm civet in a cage at Kopi luwak farm and plantation in Ubud District, Bali, Indonesia, on November 20, 2018.A less likely candidate is snakes, despite a January 22 report from scientists who edit the Journal of Medical Virology. They <a href="https://theconversation.com/snakes-could-be-the-original-source-of-the-new-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china-130364">suggested</a> that the Chinese cobra could have served as the link, but Skinner said newer information about the coronavirus genome indicates it's "not really compatible with some of the more exotic hosts that were considered earlier in the epidemic." The only way to be sure about where the virus came from, however, is to take DNA samples from animals sold at the Huanan market and from bats in the area.<h2>Bats were the original hosts of several other zoonotic diseases</h2>In the past 45 years, at least four pandemics have been traced back to bats. They were the original source of Ebola, which has killed 13,500 people in multiple outbreaks since 1976; Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, better known as MERS, which can be found in 28 countries; and the Nipah virus, which has a 78% fatality rate.Researchers traced SARS to a population of <a href="http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/China%20bats/rhinolophussinicus.htm">horseshoe bats</a> in China's Yunnan province. The virus killed 774 people and infected more than 8,000 in eight months.De Agostini/GettyA greater horseshoe bat, a relative of the Rhinolophis sinicus bat species from China that was the origin of the SARS virus."We know a fair amount of viruses on the World Health Organization's Blueprint list of priority diseases have either a direct or indirect link with bats," Vincent Munster, a virologist at Rocky Mountain Kaboratories, previously told Business Insider. Bats pass along viruses in their poop: If they drop feces onto a piece of fruit that another animal then eats, the creature can become a carrier.Here's how some of the viruses that have passed from bats to people in the last 50 years compare.Last <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466186/">March</a>, a study even predicted that bats could be the source of a new coronavirus outbreak in China."It is highly likely that future SARS- or MERS-like coronavirus outbreaks will originate from bats, and there is an increased probability that this will occur in China," the researchers wrote.That's because the majority of coronaviruses can be found in China. Plus, the study authors said, most of the bats that host coronaviruses "live near humans in China, potentially transmitting viruses to humans and livestock."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more about the Wuhan virus:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">Everything we know about the deadly Wuhan virus sweeping across China</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-genome-close-to-sars-originated-in-bats-2020-2">The genetic code of the Wuhan coronavirus shows it's 80% similar to SARS. New research suggests a potential way to neutralize the virus.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-sars-bats-animals-to-humans-2020-1">Experts think the Wuhan coronavirus jumped from bats to snakes to people. Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-mild-pandemic-how-it-could-end-2020-2">There's a good chance the Wuhan coronavirus will never disappear, experts say. There are only 3 possible endings to this story.</a></li></ul><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"></a>Featured Digital Health Articles: - <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a> - <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a> - <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a> - <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a>

The new coronavirus may have jumped to people from endangered pangolins, some researchers now suggest

Emily Wang/APHealth officials in hazmat suits check body temperatures of passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, on January 22, 2020, at the airport in Beijing.<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus</a> that originated in Wuhan, China, has killed 25 people and infected more than 830.</li><li>The coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumps from animals to humans.</li><li>SARS, a coronavirus that killed 774 people in the early 2000s, jumped from bats to civets to people.</li><li>The Wuhan coronavirus is also thought to have originated bats, which may have passed the disease to snakes, which then passed it to humans.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus spreading in China</a> and the SARS outbreak of 2003 have two things in common: Both are from the coronavirus family, and both were passed from animals to humans in a wet market.Coronaviruses are zoonotic diseases, meaning they spread to people from animals. Because wet markets put people and live and dead animals - dogs, chickens, pigs, snakes, civets, and more - in close contact, it can be easy for a virus to make an inter-species jump."Poorly regulated, live-animal markets mixed with illegal wildlife trade offer a unique opportunity for viruses to spill over from wildlife hosts into the human population," the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement on Thursday.In the case of SARS, and probably this coronavirus outbreak too, bats were the original hosts. They then infected other animals via their poop or saliva, and the unwitting intermediaries transmitted the virus to humans."Bats and birds are considered reservoir species for viruses with pandemic potential," Bart Haagmans, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, told Business Insider.In the last 45 years, at least three other pandemics (besides SARS) have been traced back to bats. The creatures were the original source of Ebola, which has killed 13,500 people in multiple outbreaks since 1976; Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) which can be found in 28 countries; and the Nipah virus, which has a 78% fatality rate.<h2>The coronavirus might have jumped from bats to snakes to people</h2>De Agostini/GettyA greater horseshoe bat, a relative of the Rhinolophis sinicus bat species from China that was the origin of the SARS virus.Not all coronaviruses are deadly - the ones endemic to humans, like the common cold, are <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2759815?guestAccessKey=da12c4d9-bed5-4c36-88cf-4db717115947&amp;utm_source=For_The_Media&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ftm_links&amp;utm_content=tfl&amp;utm_term=012320">often considered inconsequential</a>. The coronaviruses that pose a pandemic risk, however, are those that hang out in animals."Because these viruses have not been circulating in humans before, specific immunity to these viruses is absent in humans," Haagmans said.The coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan has so far killed 25 people and infected more than 830. Experts haven't yet confirmed the animal species that enabled it to spread to people, but they have some guesses. Scientists in China compared the genetic code of the Wuhan coronavirus to other coronaviruses and found it to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/snakes-could-be-the-original-source-of-the-new-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china-130364">most similar to two bat coronavirus samples</a>."There's an indication that it's a bat virus," Vincent Munster, a scientist at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, told Business Insider.According to a group of scientists who edit the Journal of Medical Virology, the intermediary species in this case could be the Chinese cobra.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cobra#/media/File:Naja_atra_(03).jpg">Thomas Brown</a>A Chinese cobra with its hood spread.That's because <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jmv.25682">further genetic analysis</a> showed that the genetic building blocks of the Wuhan coronavirus closely resemble that of snakes. So the researchers think a population of bats could have infected snakes, which passed the virus to humans as they were being sold at the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan.But the only way to be sure about where the virus came from is to take DNA samples from animals sold at that market and from wild snakes and bats in the area. <h2>Why bats pose such a threat</h2>Bats harbor a significantly higher proportion of zoonotic viruses than other mammals, according to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28636590">a 2017 study</a>. Experts think that's because bats can fly across large geographical ranges, transporting diseases as they go. That makes them an ideal host.ReutersA nurse wearing protective gear walks outside a SARS clinic in Toronto, Canada.Bats pass along viruses in their poop: If they drop feces onto a piece of fruit that a different animal then eats, the creature can become a carrier."We know a fair amount of viruses on the World Health Organization's Blueprint list of priority diseases have either a direct or indirect link with bats," Munster said. (<a href="https://globalbiodefense.com/2018/02/12/who-updates-blueprint-list-of-priority-diseases/">The list</a> includes SARS and MERS.)In <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466186/">March 2019</a>, a study even predicted that bats could be the source of a new coronavirus outbreak in China."It is highly likely that future SARS- or MERS-like coronavirus outbreaks will originate from bats, and there is an increased probability that this will occur in China," the researchers wrote. That's because the majority of coronaviruses - both those that circulate in humans and in animals - can be found in China. Plus, the study authors said, "most of the bat hosts of these CoVs [coronaviruses] live near humans in China, potentially transmitting viruses to humans and livestock."AHMAD YUSNI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD YUSNI/AFP via Getty ImagesA doctor checks equipment at a SARS screening room at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia in 2003.The bat population from which SARS originated, for example, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466186/">lived in a cave</a> just over 1 kilometer away from the nearest village. Similarly, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1006698">a 2017 study</a> warned that "the risk of spillover into people and emergence of a disease similar to SARS is possible." The authors identified at least 300 separate strains of coronaviruses still circulating in bats. <h2>How SARS, MERS, and Ebola jumped from bats to people</h2>Here are five viruses that likely came from bats, and how the outbreaks compare.Researchers traced SARS to a population of <a href="http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/China%20bats/rhinolophussinicus.htm">horseshoe bats</a> in China's Yunnan province. Humans caught it from weasel-like mammals called masked palm civets at a wet market in Guangdong.Between 2002 and 2003, SARS killed 774 people across 29 countries and infected more than 8,000. Patients experienced fevers, headaches, and a type of deadly pneumonia that could cause respiratory failure.Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto/GettyAn Asian palm civet in a cage at Kopi luwak farm and plantation in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, on November 20, 2018.MERS, similarly, passed from bats to dromedary camels in the Middle East. That coronavirus circulated in the camel population undetected for decades before jumping to humans in 2012. So far, 858 people have died in 28 countries from the illness, which comes with fever, cough, and shortness of breath.In southeast Asia, meanwhile, fruit bats were the original hosts of the deadly Nipah virus, which emerged in Malaysia in 1998, then again in India in 2001. The bats passed it to farmed pigs, which gave it to people. Patients experienced headaches and vomiting; many slipped into a coma and died.Fruit bats in Africa have played a major role in Ebola outbreaks since 1976. The worst Ebola outbreak in history, however, came from a population of <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/bat-species-may-be-source-ebola-epidemic-killed-more-11000-people-west-africa">long-fingered bats</a>. More than 11,000 people were killed between 2013 and 2016.<h2>How to prevent zoonotic diseases from spilling over into people</h2>At wet markets, the close proximity of shoppers to stall vendors and live and dead animals creates a prime breeding ground for zoonotic diseases.On Wednesday, authorities in Wuhan banned the trade of live animals at these markets. Officials closed the seafood market where the coronavirus outbreak is thought to have started on January 1. Experts support this type of intervention to help prevent the spread of viruses."Governments must recognize the global public-health threats of zoonotic diseases," Christian Walzer, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's health program, said in a statement. "It is time to close live-animal markets that trade in wildlife, strengthen efforts to combat trafficking of wild animals, and work to change dangerous wildlife-consumption behaviors, especially in cities."Dickson Lee/South China Morning Post/GettyA chicken vendor sleeps on top of chicken cages at Hau Wong road wet market in Kowloon City, China, January 31, 2004.But according to Eric Toner, a senior scientist at Johns Hopkins University, more animal-to-human disease outbreaks are likely to arise, even without wet markets. "I thought for a long time that the most likely virus that might cause a new pandemic would be a coronavirus," Toner told Business Insider. "We're in an age of epidemics because of globalization, because of encroachment on wild environments."The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak isn't considered a pandemic, however. The World Health Organization has so far not declared it a global public-health emergency, since China has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-officials-quarantine-entire-city-2020-1">quarantined Wuhan</a> and other nearby cities to stop the virus' spread.Aria Bendix contributed reporting to this story.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more about the Wuhan virus:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">Everything we know about the deadly Wuhan virus sweeping across China</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientist-simulated-coronavirus-pandemic-deaths-2020-1">Health experts issued an ominous warning about a coronavirus pandemic 3 months ago. Their simulation showed it could kill 65 million people.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-wuhan-virus-new-year-travels-2020-1">The spread of China's mysterious fatal Wuhan virus is poised to get worse as the Chinese New Year travel rush begins</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-officials-quarantine-entire-city-2020-1">Wuhan, China, and 5 other cities have been quarantined as China attempts to halt the spread of the coronavirus. That's about 23 million people on lockdown.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-coronavirus-wuhan-2020-1">The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to at least 8 countries. Here's how to protect yourself while traveling.</a></li></ul><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"></a>Featured Digital Health Articles: - <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a> - <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a> - <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a> - <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a>

You Searched For "Kopi Luwak" and got 8 results

Saffron to Caviar: 9 of the world's most expensive food items

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BI India Bureau

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Coffee beans made from civet poop is big money in Bali. But PETA says tourists should avoid it as the animals are kept in cages and fed rotten berries.

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The new coronavirus may have jumped to people from endangered pangolins, some researchers now suggest

Aylin Woodward

Experts think the Wuhan coronavirus jumped from bats to snakes to people. Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics.

Aylin Woodward

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

You Searched For "Kopi Luwak" and got 8 results

Saffron to Caviar: 9 of the world's most expensive food items

Prerna Tyagi

From coffee made out of poop to the one exported from a remote island in the middle of Atlantic Ocean – these are the most expensive coffee in the world

BI India Bureau

Five of the world's most outrageously expensive dishes

Poulomi Das

5 Million-dollar Coffee Facts You Might Have Missed

Sanghamitra Mandal

Coffee beans made from civet poop is big money in Bali. But PETA says tourists should avoid it as the animals are kept in cages and fed rotten berries.

Marielle Descalsota

I tried a cup of the 'most expensive coffee in the world' -&#160;here's why it's a tourist trap you shouldn't buy into

Harrison Jacobs

The new coronavirus may have jumped to people from endangered pangolins, some researchers now suggest

Aylin Woodward

Experts think the Wuhan coronavirus jumped from bats to snakes to people. Bats have been the source of at least 4 pandemics.

Aylin Woodward

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

I tried a cup of the 'most expensive coffee in the world' - here's why it's a tourist trap you shouldn't buy into