Fugu definition6/1/2023 ![]() The experience is expensive, however, since a plate of this delicacy can cost as much as $500. For this reason, eating fugu is considered an "experience," rather than just a meal in Japan. Fugu is a lifestyle that originated in China in the hopes of breathing life back into old customs and traditions. Part of the reported delight in eating fugu is the tingling oral sensation induced by minute amounts of tetrodotoxin in the flesh. Perhaps the ' shi ' is for the chew and the ' ko ' is for the crunch, the whole thing repeated for emphasis. The flesh of the fugu is generally eaten raw in paper-thin slices, known as sashimi. Fugu, when absolutely fresh - and the fish are usually kept alive in the restaurant's tanks to make sure of this - is a cross between crunchy and chewy. For these fish, tetrodotoxin may serve as a natural defense mechanism to repel predators. The fish appear to actively produce the toxin, rather than passively acquire it from the environment. Scientists have found that toxic fugu have unique exocrine glands for the secretion of tetrodotoxin. Fugu are found in waters throughout the world. In journals covering expeditions from 1772–1775, Pacific explorer Captain James Cook provided a vivid description of what some believe to be puffer fish poisoning. Artifacts recovered from an Egyptian tomb indicate that puffer fish poisoning has been known since approximately 2400–2700 B.C. The dangers of puffer fish consumption have long been recognized. Since 1950, only three known fatalities have occurred in the United States, all in Florida. ![]() The earliest cases reported to the CDC involved poisonings in Florida during the mid-1970s. Cases of fugu poisoning are sporadically diagnosed, but many more are not recognized or reported. Tetrodotoxin has been detected in pufferfish throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Baja California coastal region. waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, may also be toxic. All of the fish came from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Titusville, Florida. All persons recovered from the poisonings. a blowfish highly prized as a delicacy in Japan but highly dangerous because the skin and organs are poisonous (noun). Between January 1 and April 1, 2002, at least 10 cases of fugu poisoning were reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The fugu and related species may contain a tetrodotoxin, an extremely potent neurotoxin and one of the most toxic substances known, which produces critical illness and often death. Fugu, also known as puffer fish, blowfish, or globefish, has long been a food delicacy in Japan, but has only been introduced in the United States in the last 30-40 years.
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