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Seafood Toxins
Appears in
Published 2014
Some toxins occur in fish or shellfish that have eaten a kind of algae that contains the toxins. Because these toxins are not destroyed by cooking, the only method of protection against them is to purchase fish and shellfish from approved suppliers who can certify that the seafood comes from safe water.
Some fish naturally contain toxins. The best-known fish toxin is the one present in pufferfish, known in Japanese as fugu. Raw fugu is considered a delicacy in Japan, but it must be prepared only by certified chefs who have been trained to remove the glands that produce the toxin without breaking them so they don’t contaminate the flesh of the fish. This toxin attacks the nervous system and can be fatal.