Deadly fugu fish mix-up prompts emergency warning

Jan 17, 2018 | News On Japan

Jan 17, 2018 (Japan Today) - A Japanese city has activated an emergency warning system to alert residents to avoid eating locally purchased blowfish, after a mix-up saw toxic parts of the delicacy go on sale.

A supermarket in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, sold five packages of fugu fish without removing the livers, which can contain a deadly poison.

Three of the potentially lethal specimens have been located, but the other two remain at large, local official Koji Takayanagi told AFP Tuesday.

"We are calling for residents to avoid eating fugu, using Gamagori city's emergency wireless system," which broadcasts over loudspeakers located around the city, he told AFP. "Three packages will be retrieved today, but we still don't know where the remaining two are."

Fugu is one of Japan's most expensive winter delicacies, and is often served in thin slices of sashimi or hot pot.

But the fish's skins, intestines, ovaries and livers contain a poison called tetrodotoxin that can be fatal.

The part of the fish that contains the deadly poison differs from one kind of fugu to another.

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