Japanese officials use emergency alarms to warn residents not to eat extremely deadly fish

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Japanese officials are using emergency loudspeakers normally reserved for earthquake alerts to warn residents of the city of Gamagori not to eat potentially deadly fish sold from a local supermarket, The Japan Times reports. The local store allegedly sold five packages of fugu without removing the fish's liver, which can contain an extremely dangerous neurotoxin. "Eating fugu liver can paralyze motor nerves, and in a serious case cause respiratory arrest leading to death," officials warned.

Fugu is an expensive delicacy, but it is also so dangerous that it must be prepared for consumption by specially licensed professionals. There is not an antidote for its poison, which can be more toxic than cyanide and is also found in its skin, intestines, and ovaries, the BBC reports.

So far, three of the five packages sold by the store have been recovered "but we still don't know where the remaining two are," said local official Koji Takayanagi.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.