Blowfish testicles hospitalise diners

This is fish and chips. Not blowfish. And that thing you clicked on the last page was a jellyfish. We do have pictures of blowfish but we just don't want to use them

Blowfish testicles prepared by an unauthorised chef have made seven diners ill in Japan, and three remained in hospital after eating the poisonous delicacy.

The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence.

Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.

The seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant on Monday night.

Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness - typical signs of blowfish poisoning - and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

A 68-year-old diner remained hospitalised in a critical condition with respiratory failure and two others, aged 55 and 69, were in serious condition.

"It's scary. If you go to a decent-looking restaurant that serves fugu, you would assume a cook has a proper fugu license," police official Yoshihito Iwase said, using the Japanese term for blowfish.

Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association.

It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.

Three people died and 44 others were sickened by blowfish poisoning in 2007 - most of them after catching the fish and cooking it at home - according to the Health Ministry.