In Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of the East African nation of Tanzania, sea turtle meat has proven to be a sometimes deadly delicacy. Officials have warned against consuming it.
Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy by Zanzibar’s people even though it periodically results in deaths from chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning.
cyanobacteria infection of the turtle. it can also happen if they dont parboil the turtle meat correctly. that’s the best i could find using an Internet search
Had to look up why sea turtle meat would kill, since it’s not reported in the article. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelonitoxism
Second paragraph.
Typical NBC not embedding an entire wikipedia page in their article. smh my head.
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Huh, fascinating stuff. Wonder what triggers it
cyanobacteria infection of the turtle. it can also happen if they dont parboil the turtle meat correctly. that’s the best i could find using an Internet search
Wikipedia notes that the likely cause is a neurotoxin. Apparently it’s an area of little research, though.
The ‘why’ is lacking in the wiki article too, unfortunately.