Wisut Wanichabuth (วิสุทธิ์ วานิชบุตร), conducted a press conference to report on the arrest of Mr. The Commander of the Economic and Technological Crime Suppression Division, Pol. The Crime Suppression Division has seized over 5,000 kilograms of puffer fish destined to be sold to local restaurants in Samut Songkhram province. Eating the fish can cause paralysis, vomiting, heart failure and death.Ĭrime Suppression Division seize 5000 kg of puffer fish The fish is called fugu in Japan, where it is consumed by thrill-seeking Japanese gourmets for whom the risk of poisoning adds piquancy.Įvery year, there are reports of people dying or falling sick in Asia from eating puffer fish. Food and Drug Administration says it can 'produce rapid and violent death.' The ovaries, liver and intestines of the puffer fish contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent that the U.S.

Narin said over the past three years more than 15 people have died and about 115 were hospitalized from eating the fish. 'Some sellers dye the meat of puffer fish and make it look like salmon which is very dangerous,' Narin said. and the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, which assures the fugu fish imported to the country are processed efficiently and certified safe for consumption.Deadly puffer fish sold as salmon kills 15, sickens 115īANGKOK: - Unscrupulous vendors in Thailand have been selling meat of the deadly puffer fish disguised as salmon, causing the deaths of more than 15 people over the past three years, a doctor said Thursday.Īlthough banned since 2002, puffer fish continues to be sold in large quantities at local markets and restaurants, said Narin Hiransuthikul of Bangkok's Chulalonkorn University Hospital. However, the Food and Drug Administration gave permission for the fish to be imported to some Japanese restaurants that had certified fugu chefs to cook the delicacy.

Regional officials said in the emergency statement, “Eating fugu liver can paralyze motor nerves, and in a serious case cause respiratory arrest leading to death.”Īccording to the CDC report, importing fugu fish personally into the United States is prohibited. It also stated numerous people die each year because of improperly cooked fugu fish, while dozens of people manifest nonfatal side effects, as said by the Japanese health ministry. The report added diagnosis will be done depending on the clinical symptoms and a history of ingestion.Īs fugu fishes are lethal, the Japanese chefs are required to get a special permit in order to cook the dish, the Japan Times reported. With relation to diagnosis, the report said there is no particular antitoxin to combat the poison and treatment is supportive. If the body is severely poisoned, the symptoms would include hypotension, depressed corneal reflexes and fixated diagonal pupils. Other types of manifestations consist of muscle twitching, aphonia, pleuretic chest pain and convulsions. The level of paralysis caused by the poison increases gradually, which leads to death within six to 24 hours. According to a report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the strong neurotoxin found in fugu fish can result in death in 60 percent of the people who consume it.Īfter 10-45 minutes of ingestion of the fish, the symptoms of poisoning such as lightheadedness, vomiting, dizziness and weakness begin, the report stated. However, various parts of the fish which include the skin, intestines, liver and ovaries contain a poison named tetrodotoxin, which can prove fatal. … Three packages will be retrieved today, but we still don’t know where the remaining two are.”Īccording to the report, fugu fish is one of the most expensive winter food items in the country and it is served in thin slices with sashimi or hot pot. Takayanagi added, “We are calling for residents to avoid eating fugu, using Gamagori city’s emergency wireless system. Three fugu fish packets were found, but two were still missing, local official Koji Takayanagi said.

The name of the supermarket was not released.

The poison was reported to be so lethal that if the fish was not cleaned and cooked properly, its consumption can result in death. A Japanese city issued an emergency warning Tuesday to prevent people from consuming a type of pufferfish known as fugu, after poisonous parts of the fish were sold by mistake.Ī local supermarket in Gamagori city mistakenly sold five packets of fugu fish without taking out the livers, which are extremely poisonous, according to a report by the Japan Times.

Fugu fish death