Food Safety Focus (150th Issue, January 2019) – Food Incident Highlight

Avoid Consuming Gall Bladder of Grass Carp

Last month, a 30-year-old man in Mainland China developed vomiting and diarrhoea, followed by liver and kidney failure after consuming 3 raw fish gall bladders.  Fish gall bladder and its bile, including those found in grass carp variety, may contain a composite of toxic substances, microorganisms and parasites.  Some toxins found in fish gall bladder such as sodium cyprinol sulfate are heat stable and cannot be decomposed by cooking.  Ingestion of fish gall bladder may lead to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome caused by the toxin and may be fatal.  Currently, there is no antidote for the treatment of fish gall bladder poisoning.

To avoid food poisoning caused by toxic substances, it is advised not to consume fish gall bladders, no matter they are in raw state or treated by cooking processes.