The lunartail puffer fish was the species that caused the death of one person and sickened eight in Nantou County last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday, adding that it is toxic enough to kill a person who eats only two pieces of sashimi.
Through DNA analysis of the fish that poisoned nine diners on Nov. 25, the agency identified the fish as a lunartail, or Lagocephalus lunaris, FDA Research and Analysis division chief Wang Der-yuan (王德原) told a news conference.
A sample taken from the sashimi served had 134.4mg per kilogram of tetrodotoxin (TTX), a defensive neurotoxin found in many types of puffer fish, Wang said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Samples from the cooked fish and soup showed TTX levels of 33.48mg per kilogram and 31.86mg per kilogram respectively, he said.
The internal organs and skin of the fish presented the most TTX, but further analysis would be necessary to quantify the precise levels, Wang added.
TTX is highly toxic, with consumption of only 0.2mg leading to poisoning symptoms and 1mg to 2mg being potentially fatal, he said.
Based on the FDA’s findings, each 10mg piece of sashimi contained about 1.34mg of TTX, meaning that eating two pieces could be fatal, he said.
The lunartail puffer fish is common in the waters around Taiwan, National Taiwan Ocean University Department of Food Science associate professor Chen Tai-yuan (陳泰源) said.
Its plump appearance makes it attractive to many seafood enthusiasts, but its viscera and skin contain particularly high levels of TTX, which cannot be removed through cooking, he said.
Including last month’s case, four cases of puffer fish poisoning have been recorded in Taiwan over the past decade, with 17 people becoming ill and one dying, FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
Japan reported 180 cases from 2013 to last year, with 246 people becoming ill and five dying, despite it having a licensing system for the sale of puffer fish, he said.
Due to the high risk involved, the FDA does not have a licensing system for the sale of puffer fish and does not plan to instate one, he added.
Under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), food or food additives that contain toxins are not allowed to be produced, processed, stored, sold or given as gifts, so the FDA discourages the sale and consumption of puffer fish, Lin said.
Restaurants that serve puffer fish resulting in poisoning face a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$200 million (US$1,904 to US$6.35 million), and if the case is serious, the restaurant could be ordered to shut down and the manager could face a prison sentence of up to seven years, he said.
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