Last January, officials in Gamagori, Japan, issued an emergency alert to residents. The warning? A local supermarket had accidentally sold several packets of fugu—a delicacy in Japan—without removing the animals’ poisonous livers.
Many species of fugu, or puffer fish, store tetrodotoxin produced by bacteria in their organs—particularly their livers. If a person were to consume a high dose of the deadly toxin, it could paralyze the muscles used to breathe, potentially resulting in death, says Jonathan Deeds, a biologist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The chef at the Gamagori supermarket mistakenly believed he was preparing a different type of puffer fish that has a liver that’s safe to eat. Luckily, no one was hurt by the error.