Did Top Chef El Salvador take things too far with this episode? Whilst iguanas are occasionally eaten as part of regional cuisine in the country, they are far from an everyday food and since being classed as an endangered species, their consumption is tightly controlled.
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The show's host did stress that the iguanas used were sourced from a farm which had a permit from the Ministry of Agriculture. But this was not good enough for Head of the Environment and Natural Resources, Lina Phol, who claimed that they did not have permission to promote the consumption of iguanas on TV.
Furthermore, many people felt that showing the live slaughter of the reptiles on air was a step too far. The chefs had to slaughter them themselves, removing their tails and scales on TV.
An outpouring of social media users in El Salvador and worldwide expressed their anger with the programme and their decision to serve iguanas. The Minister of Environment of El Salvador, Lina Pohl, posted a message on her personal Facebook denouncing the action, which she described as "terrible".
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