Deadly Puffer Fish Sold As Salmon Kills 15, Sickens 115

[catnip]

Zombies and puffer fish True-it is documented that the poisonous parts of the puffer fugu fish are part of the ingredients that are used to make the concoction that witch doctors or wahtever you call them in Haiti use to turn someone into a zombie. There was a documentary on tv here in the states about it. Fishermen that catch fugu sell these parts to the voodoo priests.

The fishermen also will eat the fish but only if they clean it themselves.

Yes, I heard you were supposed to get a tingly feeling or something from the little bit that is left in the fugu, after a trained Japanese fugu master prepares it. I went after many years in Japan to a fugu restaurant where they used all parts, except the poisonous ones. For example there was fugu sashimi, and some cooked part of it in a soup, and something they said was it's cheeks (pretty gross) and even tea was made from the nettles or prickly parts on the outside. And I do remember my friends asking me if I felt anything in my mouth. After the sake I had,again with some part of the fish in it, I wasn't feeling anything except the pleasant warmth of hot sake. And I never did know that you were supposed to get some sensation from eating it until I watched the documentary.

I cannot imagine where they find enough meat on this fish to make it look like salmon. Perhaps there are several varieties. The voodoo priest said that the antidote for the poison was amonia. The trick is sniffing it soon enough before you are dead and since this brings on a type of paraylsis you better have a friend that either knows about the antidote or can read your mind. Horrible stuff. I don't know how people can sink so low. catnip

[Jai Dee]

Researchers have invented a test set for poison found in Puffer fish

Deputy Minister of Public Health Doctor Wallop Thainua (วัลลภ ไทยเหนือ) has revealed that tetrodotoxin is a poison found in puffer fish which even when cooked still poses a threat to human being. The poison is attacks the nervous system approximately 20 minutes after consumption with symptoms such as numbness in the extremities and mouth. Failure to administer an anecdote will result in death 6 hours after.

Currently puffer fish meat has been illegally introduced into the fish market which has prompted researchers at the Department of Medical Science to invent an easy and fast way to test for the substance which does not require professional help.

The department states that it will begun production of the 5 minute test for use by both public and private organizations by next year.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 09 October 2007

[PhilHarries]

Ever tried Jellied eeals......dear dear..........

Jellied eels, a London delicacy.

Tried it once, never again.

[Jai Dee]

New test kit for puffer fish toxin

Researchers from the Medical Sciences Department have developed a test kit that can detect the presence of the deadly poison tetrodotoxin in puffer-fish meat within five minutes.

The kit will be available for use early next year, said Deputy Public Health Minister Vallop Thaineua yesterday.

The symptoms caused by tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin found in puffer fish, typically develop within 20-30 minutes of consumption.

The poison's effects start with paraesthesia of the lips and tongue, muscle weakness and respiratory difficulty, Vallop said.

In severe cases that are not treated in time, death can follow within six hours.

The highest concentrations of the poison are found in the fish's liver and ovaries, followed by the skin and meat, he said.

Because heat cannot destroy the poison, the Public Health Ministry in 2002 prohibited the import and distribution of puffer fish and any product with puffer fish as an ingredient.

However people have died from eating the fish because some traders ignored the ban, Vallop said.

The Medical Sciences Department thus developed the tetrodotoxin test kit based on the principle of immu-nochromatography, which can yield a result in 5 minutes. The test can detect with high accuracy tetrodotoxin contamination at the lowest level of 0.3 micrograms per gram of meat.

The contamination level deemed safe for human consumption by Japanese authorities is 2.2 micrograms per gram of meat.

Vallop said the department was applying for a patent on the test kit and would distribute it to public and private agencies early next year.

He said the kit would be useful in protecting consumers.

Source: The Nation - 09 October 2007

[londonthai]

Failure to administer an anecdote will result in death 6 hours after.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 09 October 2007

their anecdotes always make you smile - even in the face of death