Health Affixed

Health Is Limitless

Warning: Fish Disease

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Ciguatera sounds like an exotic product, but it is a harmful toxin that infects a variety of fish. If a person ingests fish contaminated by the ciguatera toxin, he/she may experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tingling, pain (muscle, abdominal, and general), numbness, dizziness, vertigo, drooling, paralysis, skin rash, chills, itching, trouble breathing, seizure, confusion, and/or abnormal skin color. Death due to heart or respiratory failure occurs in very rare cases.

In other words, ingesting a contaminated fish is very harmful to one’s health. Thus, fish known to be contaminated with the ciguatera toxin should be avoided. These fish include:

Lyretail
Black Fin Red Snapper
Cubera Snapper
Dog Snapper
Flowery Grouper
Black Grouper
Black Saddled Coral Grouper
High Fin Grouper
Tiger Grouper
Speckled Blue Grouper
Areolated Coral Grouper
Potato Grouper
Leopard Coral Grouper
Yellow Fin Grouper
Hump Head Wrasse
Moray Eel
Barracuda
Greater Amberjack
Horse-eye Jack
Hogfish
King Mackerel

General Information

- Background: The ciguatera toxins originate from a marine micro-organism which attach and grow on coral reef and marine algae (seaweed). Small fish eat the toxic surface, the larger fish eat the small fish, and humans eat the large fish. These contaminated fish tend to be located in tropical and subtropical areas. Try to eat only a few coral reef fish and only buy from reputable vendors.

- Infection: Seek medical advice and treatment immediately; call the National Poison Control Center; do not drink alcoholic beverages; and do not eat nut or seed products.

Warning: Chopsticks

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Chopsticks, please! Whenever I eat at an Asian restaurant, I request a pair of chopsticks. If I didn’t, the practice spent on learning to pick up rice with chopsticks would have amounted to nothing more than a waste of time. Now, however, I may have to bring my own chopsticks to the restaurant, and you may want to consider doing the same.

Apparently, chemical substances such as sulfur, hydrogen peroxide, and sodium sulfite are commonly used to make disposable chopsticks. While the verdict is still out regarding the magnitude of the health risk, the above list of chemicals arguably imply that the use of disposable chopsticks may pose a health risk. Accordingly, it would be best to avoid the use of disposable chopsticks.

Also, it is important to note that, in California, manufacturers are expected to issue a warning on products that contain certain toxins. If you visit an Asian grocery store that sells chopsticks, you may see the following label on certain chopsticks:

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

Generally, this label can be found on wooden chopsticks. To avoid the dangers of an unlabeled potentially toxic product, it would be wise to purchase stainless steel chopsticks.