New Zealand's shellfish biotoxin alert was removed for the east coast of North Island but a lobster warning remains in place

Fresh Common Lobster

Published Jan 26, 2024

Tridge summary

New Zealand Food Safety has removed the public health warning against collecting shellfish on the North Island's east coast, as paralytic shellfish toxin levels have returned to safe limits. However, the warning remains for lobsters caught between Hicks Bay and Mahanga Beach due to toxin levels still exceeding safe limits. These toxins, which can cause serious illnesses such as paralysis and respiratory failure, cannot be eliminated through cooking. The public is advised to remove lobster guts before cooking to prevent toxin spread.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

New Zealand Food Safety has lifted the public health warning advising against collecting shellfish on the east coast of the North Island, from Cape Runaway to Wairoa River mouth. However, the public health warning remains in place for lobster caught between Hicks Bay and Mahanga Beach near Mahia. "Our testing of shellfish has established that concerning levels of paralytic shellfish toxin on the east coast of the North Island have dropped to safe limits again," says New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle. "However, lobster samples from near Gisborne and Tokomaru Bay taken by the Rock Lobster Industry Council are still coming back over the limit. Paralytic shellfish toxins can accumulate in the gut and intestine of lobster, but not the tail and leg meat. So, if you are wanting to eat lobster caught between Hicks Bay and Mahanga Beach, our advice is to not eat the gut contents. Remove the gut (mustard and intestinal cord in the tail) before cooking because ...

Source: Mpi