Poisonous puffer fish sold as salmon kill 15 in Thailand
California-based company imports puffer fish from China, mislabel them as “monkfish,” and sell them to Illinois restaurants; several people beome ill
Unscrupulous vendors in Thailand have been selling meat from the highly poisonous puffer fish disguised as salmon. The practice is not new, resulting so far more than fifteen deaths over the past three years. Some 115 people have been hospitalized. The sale of puffer fish was banned in Thailand five years ago, but fish sellers continue to sell large quantities large quantities of it at local markets and restaurants. The ovaries, liver, and intestines of the puffer fish contain a poison so potent that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it can “produce rapid and violent death.” The FDA issued its warning in May after it was discoved that Santa Fe Springs, California-based Hong Chang Corp. was importing puffer fish into the United States, then labeling the fish “monkfish” to mislead consumers. Most of the mislabeled boxes of puffer fish were sold to restaurants in Illinois, and several peole became sick. Government insiders say that the mislabeling of toxic fish is but one example of Chinese companies’ shoddy safety practices, practices which have rwecently come under much greater scrutiny in the United States and Europe.
In Japan, byt the way, the fish is called fugu (foo-goo) and is prepared by highly trained chefs and consumed by thrill-seeking Japanese gourmets. Every year, there are reports of people dying or falling sick in Asia from eating puffer fish.
