Bio-toxin shellfish alert for Firth of Thames

The area around the Firth of Thames is subject to a shellfish biotoxin alert. Image / MPI

New Zealand Food Safety has issued an extension to the public health warning advising the public not to collect or consume shellfish harvested from the Western Firth of Thames. The area now includes the entire Firth of Thames up to a line from Raukura Point across to Deadmans Point.

Routine tests on shellfish samples taken from this region have shown levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins above the safe limit of 0.8mg/kg set by Food Safety. Anyone eating shellfish from this area is potentially at risk of illness.

Eating poisonous shellfish may result in difficulty swallowing or breathing. Photo / Jeannette McCallum

Shellfish affected

Mussels, oysters, tuatua, pipi, toheroa, cockles, scallops, catseyes, kina (sea urchin) and all other bivalve shellfish are affected.

Note, cooking shellfish does not remove the toxin.

Pāua, crab and crayfish may still be eaten if the gut has been completely removed before cooking, because toxins accumulate in the gut. If the gut is not removed its contents could contaminate the meat during the cooking process.

Symptoms

Symptoms typically appear between 10 minutes and three hours after ingestion and may include:

• numbness and a tingling (prickly feeling) around the mouth, face, and extremities (hands and feet)
• difficulty swallowing or breathing
• dizziness
• headache
• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhoea
• paralysis and respiratory failure and in severe cases, death.