What characteristic prevents cooking from neutralizing tetrodotoxin found in mislabeled monkfish samples?
Answer
It is a potent neurotoxin that is not destroyed by standard preparation methods like cooking or freezing.
Tetrodotoxin is identified as a potent neurotoxin that is naturally present in certain fish species, though not in true monkfish. A critical aspect of this toxin's danger, as highlighted in the context of mislabeling incidents, is its extreme stability. Standard food processing techniques commonly used to prepare fish, such as thorough cooking, freezing, or other preservation methods, are explicitly stated to be ineffective at destroying the tetrodotoxin. This lack of mitigation by heat or cold means that absolute accuracy in species identification during sourcing and distribution is the only reliable defense against severe poisoning.
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