# is there an antidote for FUGU FISH? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135 "2013-11-05T12:18:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/1 "2013-11-05T12:18:40Z")
i went to a wild halloween bash last week, in a japanese bar in hk where the food was served on a naked woman. you read about this stuff in the west but here its pretty common. the highlight of the night was fugu fish shashimi style. as you know this is a highly toxic delicacy if not prepared by a master chef. you go into paralasys whilst still conscious and the best the docs can do is keep up your vitals and pump your stomach. is it banned in merka? i dunno. anyway what they were also serving was vodka jello and some tonic made from snake venom and herbs to ‘counteract’ the fugu. IF and if the fugu was not halal 555. i took my chances, a wild night to be sure. apart from a high and tingling in my extremities i had no side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/2 "2013-11-05T12:50:18Z")
The reason fugu is dangerous and has to be prepared by a master chef is that after separating the poison gland from the meat (relatively easy) they put some of the poison back onto the meat and people eat it for the buzz they get from the poison. I once had some fugu sashimi and it was pretty boring fish. I understand that about 100 people per year die of fugu poisoning. I hope they died happy. I imagine if there were a known antidote, fugu restaurants would stock it and those 100 deaths wouldn’t happen. Once my father and I went fishing off Barnegat Light in NJ and we caught some blowfish. I don’t suppose they were the same species, but the locals told us they were poisonous. But the pier we were fishing from had a fish cleaning station, a wooden basin with running water that drained into the sea. Hammered into the sink were a pair of nails and they explained that if we pulled the fish between the nails two filets would come off, one on each side, and they were safe to eat and the rest of the fish should be thrown away. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/3 "2013-11-05T12:54:28Z")
there you go, thanks. and i was going to run it past cecil 555. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/4 "2013-11-05T13:50:45Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The reason fugu is dangerous and has to be prepared by a master chef is that after separating the poison gland from the meat (relatively easy) they put some of the poison back onto the meat and people eat it for the buzz they get from the poison. Are you sure about this? It’s my understanding that the numbness experienced from eating fugu is due to there being a small amount of toxin in the flesh itself, just from being in contact with the entrails, not from the chefs “putting some of the poison back”. ---
**Author:** ![wabsnazsm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wabsnazsm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wabsnazsm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/5 "2013-11-05T14:07:40Z")
Oops, wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/6 "2013-11-05T14:18:32Z")
The “poison” is tetrodotoxin, and [there is no known antidote](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrodotoxin#Symptoms_and_treatment). Fugu is safe when prepared by any chef licensed to process fugu. The chef needs to be able to identify different types of fugu, and know which organs in that type of fugu contain the toxin. And fugu is _not_ eaten for a “buzz”. I don’t know if people in HK do things differently, but in Japan it’s just a good white fish, suitable for [nabe (hot pot)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabemono), frying and sashimi. There is not enough toxin in the flesh to cause numbness, tingling or any other effect, and they definitely don’t add any toxin to it. If you _do_ feel a tingling or numbness in your mouth after eating fugu (and are sure it’s not from the condiments - fugu sashimi is often served with _momiji oroshi_, i.e. grated daikon with hot pepper), you need to get to the emergency room and get your stomach pumped. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/7 "2013-11-05T14:22:51Z")
uber expensive too. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/8 "2013-11-05T14:31:13Z")
Partially ninja’d by scr4, so I’ll just add this: > [@scr4](#): > > …Fugu is safe when prepared by any chef licensed to process fugu. The chef needs to be able to identify different types of fugu, and know which organs in that type of fugu contain the toxin… Not _quite_ a [documentary of how the chef does that](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVrTepl2hvs)… Adam Platt claims, in his [NY Magazine article on fugu](http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/46462/), [that he got a tingling feeling from his meal.](http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/46462/index3.html) Of course, as his chef points out, it could have been psychosomatic. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/9 "2013-11-05T14:44:01Z")
i blame the vodka jellos. i didn’t add. after the meal the naked woman stood up and offered everyone a bowl of hot water and lime juice to wash the hands. fugu liver is banned here. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/10 "2013-11-05T15:29:11Z")
So what does “555” mean in this context? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/11 "2013-11-05T15:57:16Z")
In Chinese, they use it to mean crying. In Thai, they use it to mean laughing. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/12 "2013-11-05T18:56:02Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I understand that about 100 people per year die of fugu poisoning. I hope they died happy. I imagine if there were a known antidote, fugu restaurants would stock it and those 100 deaths wouldn’t happen. Where did you get that number? Wikipedia says 31 people in Japan died from fugu toxin between 1995 and 2005. That’s 3 a year. That’s just Japan, but there can’t be that many more in the rest of the world. Also, almost all of these deaths are from fugu prepared by amateurs (mostly recreational fishermen who caught and prepared it themselves). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/13 "2013-11-05T20:26:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So what does “555” mean in this context? I second the question. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/14 "2013-11-05T21:20:09Z")
Need answer fast? Somebody had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/15 "2013-11-06T07:50:52Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Where did you get that number? Wikipedia says 31 people in Japan died from fugu toxin between 1995 and 2005. That’s 3 a year. That’s just Japan, but there can’t be that many more in the rest of the world. Also, almost all of these deaths are from fugu prepared by amateurs (mostly recreational fishermen who caught and prepared it themselves). I knew I once posted something about this topic, and lo and behold, it was _10 years ago_. Anyway here goes: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4216027&postcount=25](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4216027&postcount=25) The short is that the high numbers for fugu-related deaths come from studies published in the west in the early 70s. Unfortunately, the actual paper cited doesn’t appear to be online, so I can’t look it up, but it’s likely that these numbers were due to people eating fish they caught themselves in the post-war years. For more recent data, you can look at this [chart](http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/syokuchu/poison/animal_det_01.html) from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Between 2001 and 2009, annual fugu-related deaths were between 0 and 6, in pretty much all cases these were prepared by amateur or unlicensed cooks. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/16 "2013-11-06T07:59:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The reason fugu is dangerous and has to be prepared by a master chef is that after separating the poison gland from the meat (relatively easy) they put some of the poison back onto the meat and people eat it for the buzz they get from the poison. There is no “poison gland.” The fugu fish does not produce its own poison. Rather, it appears that it’s produced by [bacteria living in the fish’s intestinal tract](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010105001959). There are several sub-species of fugu, and the levels of tetrodoxin in various organs will vary from species to species. Hence part of the difficulty of preparing the fish: it’s not just important to make sure you don’t contaminate the edible parts, you also have to be able to identify the species and know what you can use. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-antidote-for-fugu-fish/673135/17 "2013-11-06T08:06:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So what does “555” mean in this context? UrbanDictionary is your friend. [Urban Dictionary: 555](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=555) It’s annoying shorthand for “ha ha ha” originating in Thailand.