Is there enough tetrodotoxin in a single fugu (blowfish) to kill 30 people? As a section about Fugu fish in the "Top 10 Most Dangerous Foods" article on the Time magazine website suggests > The toxin is so potent that a lethal dose is smaller than the head of a pin, and a single fish has enough poison to kill 30 people. but on a wikipedia page about Fugu we can see an article claiming that > Poison concentrations vary from fish to fish, so poisoning may not always lead to death, instead giving little more than numbness on the lips and tongue while eating and shortly thereafter. So basically the question is, is it actually possible that Fugu fish which sometimes has just enough poison to numb ones lips and tongue can also have enough poison to kill 30 people?

Could be, if you had a big pufferfish, ignored safety and regulation, and ate the most toxic parts.

According to Toxins of Pufferfish that Cause Human Intoxications (Arakawa et al)

> [The] minimum lethal dose (MLD) for humans is estimated to be approximately 10000 MU (≈2 mg)

( **til** they measure toxicity in "Mouse Units"). And,

> In general, viscera, especially the liver and ovary are highly toxic (the toxicity often exceeds 1,000 MU/g), and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has prohibited these organs from being used for food from all species of pufferfish.

So you're talking about 10g per person x 30 ~= 300 grams of viscera

Toxicity varies between species and while some species such as _Takifugu niphobles_ are small, others like _Takifugu oblongus_ can grow to 40cm. _T. oblongus_ is called out in the Arakawa paper as "highly toxic."

Throw one in the blender and share it on the bus and things could get ugly.