Twenty-one brands of Thai fish sauce (nam pla) have been declared free from botulinum toxin and clostridium botulinum bacteria.
Medical Science Department chief Dr Sukhum Kanchanapimai said on Monday that, after the United States had banned the import of all Thai fish sauce in 2014 for the lack of information about tests of botulinum toxin in the product, the Office of Food Safety and Quality had tested 48 brands of fish sauce available in the market to determine the content of botulinum toxin in the product.
Of the 48 brands tested, 28 are genuine fish from 18 production sources from12 provinces. 20 samples from production sources from eight provinces are adulterated fish sauce. However, tests show none of them have botulinum toxin of types A, B, E and F and free from clostridium botulinum bacteria.
Botulinum toxin is highly toxic and can cause death if consumed up to 0.5 microgramme. People who consume food contaminated with the toxin will experience vomiting, nausea, weakened muscle or paralysis, breathing difficulty and sighting problem.
21 brands of Thai fish sauce free from botulinum toxin - Thai PBS English News