In Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of the East African nation of Tanzania, sea turtle meat has proven to be a sometimes deadly delicacy. Officials have warned against consuming it.
While the Wikipedia page lists food poisonings from sea turtles as rare, it still feels like a Russian Roulette kind of meal.
Would you eat something knowing that there is a nonzero chance it might kill you (as in really off you, not just give you a bad night at the bathroom)?
I suppose the answer is a lot of people would, since the article itself mentioned another recent poisoning.
It reminds me of the blowfish which is also lethally poisonous if not handled by someone who’s certified to do so.
I suppose everything in life has a risk and I’ve done my share of reckless things, but rolling the dice on food never appealed to me.
Yea a while ago 20 people died at a wedding in Mada after being served Turtle. Hawksbill or Green, not sure. I should find the news article but I’m too lazy and it’s late. Hawksbill is supposed to never be edible. Over here in Mayotte there are still poachers
I think we’re just kind of bad at evaluating risks of a relatively low order. In the US, E coli kills some 3000 people a year, and most of us have exposure to that risk. It might just be that people don’t see much of a difference between chances in the range of, say, 0.1% and 0.00001% of serious illness.
This is tragic.
While the Wikipedia page lists food poisonings from sea turtles as rare, it still feels like a Russian Roulette kind of meal.
Would you eat something knowing that there is a nonzero chance it might kill you (as in really off you, not just give you a bad night at the bathroom)?
I suppose the answer is a lot of people would, since the article itself mentioned another recent poisoning.
It reminds me of the blowfish which is also lethally poisonous if not handled by someone who’s certified to do so.
I suppose everything in life has a risk and I’ve done my share of reckless things, but rolling the dice on food never appealed to me.
Edit: fixed grammar
Yea a while ago 20 people died at a wedding in Mada after being served Turtle. Hawksbill or Green, not sure. I should find the news article but I’m too lazy and it’s late. Hawksbill is supposed to never be edible. Over here in Mayotte there are still poachers
I think we’re just kind of bad at evaluating risks of a relatively low order. In the US, E coli kills some 3000 people a year, and most of us have exposure to that risk. It might just be that people don’t see much of a difference between chances in the range of, say, 0.1% and 0.00001% of serious illness.
I wouldn’t eat something that could kill me, but I def will ingest something like that. But hey that’s just me.
Just wanna say, you can be uncertified and handle it properly and certified while handling it improperly.