Group hopes poison study helps break fugu-liver taboo
By REIJI YOSHIDA
Staff writer
A taboo always tastes sweet. When things are prohibited, they often seem more
attractive and thrilling than ever.
A tora-fugu awaits preparation on a chopping board at the Fugu-Masa
restaurant in Tokyo's Akasaka district.
A group of researchers is now challenging a centuries-old taboo that has killed
numerous reckless Japanese since ancient times: eating the liver of the fugu,
which is known for its powerful nerve toxin.
Researchers at Nagasaki University claim to have unlocked the long-standing
mystery surrounding the origin of the puffer's poison, claiming the livers of
cultivated fugu carefully grown outside of their natural environment contain no
poison and can be served as a safe delicacy.
"We've examined more than 5,000 tora-fugu and none of them had the poison at
all," said Tamao Noguchi, a former Nagasaki University professor and key member
of the research group. Tora-fugu are considered the best of the edible fugu and
are the only kind farmed in Japan.
Noguchi claimed that some people who are engaged in fugu farming know this fact
well through direct experience -- they have eaten the liver of fugu they have
raised.
"The liver is really delicious," said Noguchi, who has eaten the forbidden
organ many times himself. "It's creamy, sweet and oil-rich" and tastes much
better than the livers of the more popular "anko" (anglers) and "kawahagi"
(filefish) favored by fish aficionados.
The fugu is cherished as one of the most delicious fish in Japan. Its smooth
white meat is usually served as sashimi or cooked in "tecchiri" hot pots in
winter.
But some parts, particularly the liver and ovary, are extremely poisonous. The
poison, known as tetrodotoxin, is as powerful as the nerve gas sarin, and just
2 mg is enough to instantly kill a 50 kg adult, according to Noguchi.
The Food Sanitation Law allows only licensed chefs to prepare fugu and
prohibits them from serving the liver and ovary of most varieties of the
self-inflating fish.
Despite the fear of its poison, however, Japanese have been eating fugu for a
long, long time. Its bones have even been discovered in kitchen middens dating
back to the Jomon Period (10,000 to 300 B.C.).
Eating fugu became particularly popular during the Edo Period (1603-1867), when
many humorous poems and comic stories were written about people stuck between
their craving for fugu and the fear of dying from its deadly liver.
One traditional Japanese saying about the dilemma goes like this: "Wanting to
eat fugu, but fearing to lose life."
Based on the research of Nagasaki University, the Saga Prefectural Government
is now trying to resolve this centuries-old dilemma by asking the central
government to designate the town of Ureshino, in southern Saga, as a special
deregulation area where the livers of carefully cultivated fugu can be served
to boost tourism.
Academically, the origin of tetrodotoxin has long been a mystery. Some scholars
argue that the poison is produced by the fugu's body, while others believe it
accumulates as the fish eats certain marine creatures.
Noguchi, believing the latter theory, thinks certain bacteria in the sea
produce tetrodotoxin, and that the poison goes up the food chain through marine
creatures that the fugu eats, such as starfish, shellfish and crabs.
To prove his hypothesis, Noguchi started a project in 1981 to dissect and check
the liver of cultivated tora-fugu that were raised only with feed proven to be
poison-free. These fish were raised in fish preserves on land or in enclosed
nets in the sea.
Noguchi has examined the livers of more than 5,000 samples of tora-fugu grown
under these conditions, but tetrodotoxin has not been detected in any of them,
he said.
"We did what we had done in the laboratory (to detect the poison) on a massive
commercial scale. But no poison was detected. I believe this has proved our
theory," Noguchi said.
But a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry panel has been hesitant to grant Saga
Prefecture's deregulation request, given the long history of fugu-induced
deaths.
The panel is expected to soon submit a final report to the ministry, which will
then make a final decision on the request.
Hideaki Muto, an official in charge of fugu issues at the Saga Prefectural
Government, concedes that an apparent majority of the panel are being cautious
about bending the rule against fugu liver consumption.
But the prefecture is determined not to give up -- even if the panel rejects
its plea, he said.
"We would further examine the reasons for rejection and would prepare more data
and materials to win approval," Muto said.
The Japan Times: May 4, 2005
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