One of my coworkers is concerned about an article she read in Wednesday’s Toronto Sun about a red tide stretching from New England to Canada containing high levels of toxins that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning.
The article warns that if you’re going to eat lobster, don’t eat the tomalley (the green stuff) because if the lobster is contaminated with these toxins then this is where the highest concentration of them will be. She’s a big lobster fan and she eats everything that can be eaten – including the tomalley.
While she doesn’t mind chucking that part, her main concern is whether any of the toxins could spread to the rest of the lobster. I know the tomalley acts as the creature’s liver and pancreas so it’s responsible for filtering it out, but the article states that the mean should still be fine, and my co-worker isn’t quite so convinced.
I know next to nothing of marine biology, so any Dopers here have a more concrete answer? Would a lobster who has been caught from the toxin-infested region still be safe to eat so long as you toss the tomalley?