Some Msians are selling poisonous pufferfish under another name

Yesterday, there was news of an elderly couple who had pufferfish for lunch. It did not end well for them – the 83-year-old woman who prepped the fish for lunch died within hours of tucking into the meal. Her 84-year-old husband who shared the dish is now fighting for his life in the ICU.

They allegedly bought the pufferfish off Facebook, and after doing some sleuthing, we found two other sellers selling pufferfish online. The thing is…

The sellers have been calling the pufferfish something else

See, there’s a nickname for the pufferfish among the Chinese community in Malaysia: ‘鸡腿鱼’ (Ji tui yu). That translates to ‘drumstick fish’, because it’s shaped like a chicken drumstick. Both the sellers we found – one on Shopee, and one on Facebook – call the pufferfish by that name, instead of its proper name, ‘河豚’ (He tun).

That’s quite problematic, because pufferfish have this substance in their livers and ovaries called tetrodotoxin, and that’s what causes pufferfish poisoning. Some species even have it in their skin and muscle. There’s enough of it in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote for it. People who buy these ‘drumstick fish’ might not know they’re actually pufferfish, and if the pufferfish aren’t prepared properly, the consequences can be fatal.

What’s even scarier is that…

This isn’t the first time that pufferfish is sold under another name in Malaysia

Back in July 2017, unscrupulous fishmongers and fishing trawler operators took the opportunity to sell pufferfish in Penang, Kedah and Perak as fish prices were on the rise. After the pufferfish were filleted, they were rebranded as ‘crystal fish’, and marketed as a low-cost alternative to pricier fish, like Spanish mackerel and grouper. One of the market stalls in Penang that sold fish told reporters that the pufferfish fillets were totally safe.

“We dare not tell them it is from pufferfish. People are skeptical of eating pufferfish as it is known to be poisonous. I have been selling this for the past few months, and nobody has gotten sick or died. Therefore, I think it’s safe to eat.” – Anonymous Penang fishmonger

The pufferfish were often prepared by low-skilled foreign workers with little knowledge of the danger the fish posed to diners. Some of them were told to just slice the tail portion of the pufferfish, below its abdomen, missing out on the stomach. Apparently, these ‘crystal fish’ fillets were then sold to restaurants and hawkers that sold fish noodles or fish porridge.

Following that, Penang’s Fishery Department was alerted, and they said they would check to see how widespread the problem was. In the meantime, Penang health authorities warned the public to be wary of accidentally buying pufferfish. The Health Ministry was reported to have plans to outlaw the import, preparation, advertisement or sale of pufferfish unless they were ‘first made safe by qualified persons’.

Nothing seemed to come of that, however, and we’re not entirely sure how common pufferfish is in the eatery scene, but one thing we do know…

Don’t buy fish with weird names, especially online

…even if you do know that you’re buying pufferfish. Chefs in Japan who want to prepare pufferfish have to get a license beforehand, and while requirements differ from area to area, the chefs will usually have to have to pass written and practical performance tests. If everything we mentioned hasn’t clued you in on just how dangerous the critter is, we dunno what will.

So yeah, don’t mess around with pufferfish at home if you don’t wanna get fugu-ed over by tetrodotoxin. If you have a hankering for pufferfish, it’s best to look for a reputable Japanese restaurant with a licensed chef.