KUALA LUMPUR: The government has never allowed puffer fish which contain dangerous toxins to be sold in the market, said the Health Ministry.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry had consistently strived to educate the public on food safety, especially on the dangers of consuming puffer fish.
"The ministry's Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD) has produced educational materials as a step towards raising public awareness regarding the dangerous toxin in puffer fish.
"Furthermore, Section 13 of the Food Act 1983 sufficiently described the prohibition in the sale of any food that has in or upon it any substance which is poisonous, harmful or otherwise injurious to health.
"Therefore, puffer fish, which contain dangerous toxins, are not allowed to be sold," he said in a statement.
His remarks came in the wake of the deaths of Lim Siew Guan, an octogenarian from Kluang, Johor who died of poisoning after consuming puffer fish.
Her husband, who also ate the fish, was admitted to the intensive care unit in hospital.
Dr Noor Hisham said, apart from the sale of puffer fish being controlled under the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority Act 1972, a survey by the Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD) in 2019 stated that 86 per cent of the respondents (the public, fishmonger, fisherman and the cook) have sufficient knowledge of the dangers of consuming puffer fish.
He said based on data from the ministry's Disease Control Division from 1985 to March 2023, a total of 58 pufferfish poisoning incidents were reported with 18 deaths involved.
