People do all sorts of things to get a rush. Some people love to ride rollercoasters, some people dive off cliffs, and over in Japan, a select few eat highly poisonous sea creatures at shady restaurants. One such establishment in Osaka was raided by local police after it was found to be serving tiger blowfish liver.
While it is legal to serve blowfish (known as “fugu” in Japanese restaurants), certain especially poisonous parts of the fish like the liver are illegal to sell. Chefs are required to be licensed to prepare the dish safely.
Osaka police raided the members-only restaurant on Monday. Though no restaurant patrons have reported falling ill after eating at the restaurant, all five restaurants in the Osaka restaurant’s ownership group have been indefinitely banned from serving any parts of the blowfish.
Not this guy. He’s harmless.
Tetrodotoxin, the substance that makes tiger blowfish so deadly if incorrectly prepared, causes dozens of Japanese citizens to fall ill every year. Typically, a handful of people die every year in Japan due to ingesting the toxin, which is 1,200 times more powerful than cyanide and has no known antidote. According to National Geographic, each blowfish contains enough toxin to kill 30 people.
(Via The Guardian)
