The Food and Drug Administration states that puffer fish may contain tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin, which are fatal poisons that cannot be eliminated by boiling or freezing.
An elderly Malaysian woman died and her husband is fighting in hospital for his life after the couple ate the deadly puffer fish last week, according to reports. The 83-year-old woman’s 84-year-old husband purchased the puffer fish from a local fish shop, bought it home, and cooked and ate it, the couple’s daughter said.
The couple’s daughter said that they didn’t know that eating puffer fish could prove to be fatal for them. Pufferfish is a delicacy known to contain extremely potent poisons and consuming it could prove deadly. The tragic incident happened in Malaysia’s Kampung Chamek, Johor state’s Kluang district last month.
The couple’s daughter Ng Ai Lee, 51, said that her 84-year-old father unknowingly purchased the fish from a fishmonger last Saturday because there weren’t many options available. Her father went on to get pufferfish, or « drumstick fish, » as it is known in Chinese, from the fishmonger who makes a weekly van visit to their village in Kampung Chamek, Johor state.
« My parents have been buying fish from the same fishmonger for many years, so my father did not think twice about it, » Lee told the Star.
