Neuroscience For Kids
Fish Recalled! May Contain Tetrodotoxin!!
May 25, 2007
If you are planning a delicious dinner of monkfish, check the box first. It may not be monkfish at all -- it may be pufferfish and it could contain tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin.
The Hong Chang Corporation (Santa Fe Springs, CA) has
voluntarily recalled 282 boxes (22 lbs. each) of frozen fish labeled as
monkfish after two people in the Chicago area became sick when they ate
soup made with the fish. The US Food and
Drug Administration analyzed samples of the fish and confirmed that it
contained tetrodotoxin (TTX).
TTX blocks sodium ion channels in the membranes of
nerve cells. When sodium ion channels are blocked, a neuron cannot
generate an action potential and transmission of
information fails. A variety of sensory, motor and respiratory symptoms
can occur in people who ingest TTX. Such symptoms include tingling,
numbness, headache, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, movement problems, and
even death due to paralysis of the muscles used to breathe.
The dangers of pufferfish and TTX are well known to chefs and diners in Japan. In Japan, people eat pufferfish as a delicacy called "fugu." Although skilled chefs who must be specially trained and licensed to remove TTX from the pufferfish by discarding the liver, skin and eggs, a few people have died after eating fugu.
So, check the fish box for one panel that reads, "MONK FISH GUTTED AND HEAD-OFF PRODUCT OF CHINA" and another panel that reads, "MONK FISH; Imported by: Hong Chang Corp., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670; Product of China (P.R.C.)." If you have one of these boxes of fish, DON'T EAT THE FISH: take it back to the place you bought it and get a refund.
References and more information:
- Neurotoxins - Neuroscience for Kids
- FDA recall notice
Copyright © 1996-2007, Eric H. Chudler, University of Washington
