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Tokyo thieves warned not to eat stolen poisonous fish

Hapless thieves in Tokyo have been warned not to eat their ill-gotten gains after stealing poisonous puffer-fish.



The two crates apparently went missing between the market and a dealer that was to sell them on to specialist restaurants in Tokyo Photo: ALAMY

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 5:04PM GMT 13 Dec 2010

Considered a delicacy at this time of year in Japan, two crates of "fugu" disappeared from Tsukiji Wholesale Market on Tuesday morning.

The fugu has long been considered the mealtime equivalent of Russian roulette, thanks to a concentration of anhydrotetrodotoxin 4-epitetrodotoxin in the liver or ovaries that is 1,200 times more lethal than cyanide.

The poison paralyses the nerves and prevents the lungs working. There is no antidote and death occurs within minutes – with the first indication that all is not well reportedly a numbness of the lips.

Only specially licensed chefs are qualified to prepare the fish for human consumption and there are several fatalities every year, mostly among sport fishermen who think they know how to remove the poisonous parts.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is so concerned at the disappearance of the 14 tiger puffer fish, which had been imported from Korea, that it has issued an unprecedented warning to the public not to try to eat them.

The two crates apparently went missing between the market, where they had been packed in ice in two styrofoam crates weighing 21kg, and a dealer that was to sell them on to specialist restaurants in Tokyo.

Fugu chefs consider themselves among the elite in the very competitive world of Japanese cuisine and are required to undergo three years of training and apprenticeship – followed by a test that just 35 per cent of applicants pass – before they are permitted to prepare their first fish.

According to tradition, a chef who fails to remove all the poisonous parts of a fish and kills a customer is required to commit ritual suicide with his own fish knife.