Have you even eaten a food that might kill you?

That’s what thousands of Japanese and

Koreans do every year when they sit down to a delicious meal of fugu fish.

Fugu is known in English as puffer fish, and there are over 120 species of puffers in the world’s
oceans. They are relatively small, generally grey– sometimes with spots — and they have
spikes that pop up when they sense danger. Through these spikes, they can inject a deadly
venom into their attackers, and it is this venom which makes the fugu such a potentially
dangerous dish.

The venom, called tetrodotoxin, is mainly concentrated in the internal organs of the fish, though
it is also found in the ovaries and the skin. Ingesting this poison causes damage to the nervous
system, leading to symptoms ranging from numbness of the mouth to total paralysis. “The first
sensation is numbness of the tongue and lips,” says Dr. Yuko Honda, a biologist the Kansai
Marine Institute. “This is soon followed by headache and dizziness and often nausea and
fatigue. The next symptom– and the most serious– is difficulty breathing, leading to paralysis”.

It is in Japan where fugu fish is most prized. Japanese law decrees that it must be prepared by
a specially licensed fugu chef, who is legally bound to taste every dish before it is served. The
chef is also required to dispose of the poisonous waste in a locked box. However, fugu is not as
rare a dish as some people might think– In Tokyo alone it is served in some 3,000 restaurants,
and it’s also available at many supermarkets, sold in special trays with a security seal
guaranteeing its safety.

Fugu is usually eaten as sashimi, very thinly sliced and accompanied by rice and sake. It can
also be eaten in nabe or hotpots – a kind of fish soup– and even battered and fried. “Fugu is a
fish with quite a delicate flavour”, says Hiroshi Takamura, fugu chef at the popular Kintatsu
restaurant in Tokyo, ‘so it’s perfect for making sushi, which allows the flavour to be savoured. It
needs to be cut very thinly, because it has quite firm flesh– I like to cut it so thin that the light
shines right through it it, though there are some chefs who cut it thicker”. Asked about the
danger of eating fugu, Takamura becomes quite serious. ‘Obviously fugu might be prepared by
a chef who knows how to do it”, he says “If the chef is licensed and careful, then there is no
danger at all. And the poisonings we hear of sometimes? “That’s when people buy the fish and
try to prepare it themselves. Sometimes people are even sold fugu disguised as salmon or trout,
which is very dangerous practice’.

F While the poison of fugu is known to be extremely toxic, there are still those who wish to try it.
And why do people want to try such dangerous toxin? Japanese food writer Naotaro Kageyama
explains that it is 'because of the sensation they get on their lips and tongue from the poison. It's
a kind of tingling numbness that is really quite strange… not unpleasant at all. This is one of the
aspects of fugu that is most attractive to the true connoisseur '.

G While there are those who wish to try the poison, every year many people are sickened or
killed by the poison accidentally. Kazuko Nishimura is one such victim. 'Yes, I tried fugu just
once. I didn't really want to, but my uncle had caught the fish and prepared it as a special treat,
so we all sat down to a meal. At first , it was just my mouth, but then my head started to ache,
and then I couldn't breathe. They took me to hospital where I was in intensive care for a few
days and they treated me for the poisoning, helping my body to breathe while I was paralyzed'.
'Kazuko was very lucky to survive', says Doctor Harumi Matsui at the Kansai University hospital.
'Fewer than 50 per cent of victims of fugu poisoning survive, and it is not a very pleasant death.
But Kazuko's family brought her to the hospital immediately, and we were able to keep her
breathing while the poison wore off'. Luckily no one else who shared the meal was affected- a
single fugu has enough poison to kill up to 30 people, so the situation could have been much
worse. It seems that Kazuko was the only one to eat a portion that contained the poison.

If, after reading all this, you still wish to try fugu, you may have to travel a long way: Japan,
Hong Kong, Korea and the US are the only places that allow licensed chefs to prepare the dish.
Fugu is completely illegal in Europe and the rest of Asia and America. But if you can't travel that
far to try it, you' re in good company– the emperor of Japan is not allowed to eat it either,
forbidden by royal decree.

1- The people who mostly eat puffer fish are … (Circle One Option)

A- Koreans and Chinese

B- Koreans and Vietnamese
C- Koreans and Japanese
D- Japanese and American

2- What is the function of spikes that puffer fish have on their skin? (Circle one answer)

A- The spikes pop up when they sense danger.

B- The spikes pop up when they feel hungry.
C- The spikes pop up when they see a green light.
D- The spikes pop up when they feel cold.

3- Where is the venom of the Puffer fish concentrated? (Circle one answer)

A- In the spine of the puffer fish

B- In the stomach of the puffer fish
C- In the internal organs of the puffer fish
D- In the skin of the puffer fish

4- Is this statement correct or incorrect? The stages of being poisoned by puffer fish are:

First, numbness of the tongue and lips

Then, Nausea
Then, Fatigue
Then, Difficulty breathing
Then, Paralysis
Correct or Incorrect?___________________

5- Where Is puffer fish available? (Circle one answer)

A- In supermarkets only
B- In supermarkets and restaurants
C- In Coffee shops
D- In gas stations

6- Do you like sashimi? In a full sentence, explain why.

__________________________________

__________________________________

Why do people want to try such a dangerous dish? (Circle one answer).

A- Because of the sensation of tingling and numbness they get while eating it.
B- Because it is made of white healthy fish meat
C- Because it is filling. You feel satiated fast.
D- Because it's very spicy.

7- How many people of the population survive if they eat puffer fish? (Circle one answer)

A- 100 percent of the population

B- 90 percent of the population
C-70 percent of the population
D- 50 percent of the population

8- In which 4 places are chefs licensed to prepare fugu? (Circle one answer)

A- Japan
Hong Kong
Korea
The US

B- Taiwan
Hong Kong
Korea
Canada

C- Canada
The US
Japan
Singapore

D- Iceland
The US
Mexico
Brazil

9- Puffer fish 🐠 if eaten improperly damages the … (Circle One answer)

A- The lymphatic system
B- The cardiac system
C- The skin
D- The nervous system

This is the end of the Test!