Restaurant Owner Cooks Pufferfish Without a License…Customer Dies

1. Overview

In August 2026, two customers who ate at a well-known pufferfish restaurant in Busan were diagnosed with pufferfish toxin (tetrodotoxin) poisoning. In October of the same year, an MBC exclusive report revealed that the restaurant was delaying compensation, citing the insurer’s investigation and saying the incident might be due to the customers’ individual constitutions.

Bokguk (pufferfish soup) is one of Busan’s signature dishes, and the restaurant was reportedly run directly by one of the country’s most prominent brands in the field. The central issues in this case are that customers were poisoned by a lethal toxin that can kill even in minute quantities at a restaurant known as a “trusted, famous dining spot,” and that the restaurant blamed the customers’ constitutions. However, MBC is currently the only outlet to have reported the incident, and the restaurant’s name has not been disclosed.

2. Pufferfish Toxin

Pufferfish eggs, internal organs, skin, and blood contain tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin. According to MBC, it is potent enough to kill a person in an amount roughly one-tenth the size of a grain of rice. For this reason, the Enforcement Decree of the Food Sanitation Act requires restaurants that prepare and sell pufferfish to employ a cook certified in pufferfish preparation, while the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety limits the number of pufferfish species permitted for consumption to 21. A tingling and numb sensation in the mouth and tongue is a typical early symptom of pufferfish poisoning.

3. Numbness Shortly After the Meal

In August 2026, Mr. Kim, who was in Busan on a business trip, ate at a well-known bokguk restaurant with a companion. Soon after finishing their meal, both suddenly felt numbness and tingling in their mouths and stiffness in their jaws. Mr. Kim rushed to an emergency room and was diagnosed with “tetrodotoxin poisoning,” or pufferfish poisoning. His companion, who went to a different hospital, received the same diagnosis. The fact that two people received the same diagnosis at different hospitals makes it difficult to dismiss the connection between the meal and their symptoms. Professor Han Seong-ho of Dong-A University’s Department of Family Medicine told MBC that “a tingling, numb feeling in the mouth is a typical early symptom of pufferfish poisoning.”

Mr. Kim said, “I naturally trusted the restaurant and ordered bokguk, so I was very taken aback to hear that this might be related to pufferfish toxin.”

4. The Restaurant’s Response

The restaurant initially said it would reimburse the cost of the food and hospital bills. However, it later said it first needed to wait for the insurer’s investigation and delayed paying medical expenses for more than a month. The restaurant said it had conducted a comprehensive review of its cooking process and found no major problems with the detoxification process, adding that the incident might have been due to the customers’ individual constitutions rather than any fault on the restaurant’s part. A restaurant representative explained, “Depending on a person’s nervous system sensitivity, body weight, and constitution, they may react sensitively even to a very tiny amount that is within the safety limit.”

The restaurant says it will decide whether to provide compensation once the insurer’s investigation is complete. However, MBC noted that no food samples were collected at the time of the incident, making it difficult to ensure the reliability of the investigation’s findings. If none of the food remains, there was no decisive evidence from the outset to objectively determine the cause.

5. Authenticity Debate

The incident itself was confirmed by medical diagnoses. The remaining question is whether the poisoning was caused by the restaurant’s cooking or, as the restaurant claims, by the customers’ constitutions.

5.1. View That the Restaurant Is Responsible

Both people experienced the same symptoms shortly after the same meal and received the same diagnosis at different hospitals. The fact that both reacted at the same time weighs heavily against an explanation based on one person’s unusual constitution. Moreover, in a similar case, a court had already rejected “constitution” as grounds for exempting a restaurant from responsibility. In a lawsuit brought by a customer whose tongue became numb after eating pufferfish soup at a restaurant in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, in 2017, the owner cited the customer’s pre-existing illness and the fact that the son who ate with the customer had no symptoms. The court rejected the owner’s argument, stating that “whether poisoning symptoms develop, and their severity, may vary from person to person depending on the part of the pufferfish consumed, the amount consumed, and individual constitution.” It ordered the owner to pay 13.95 million won in compensation, including 10 million won in solatium. Under this ruling, differences in constitution may determine who becomes ill and how severely, but they do not explain why toxin remained in the food. Can invoking “constitution” really lessen the responsibility of a well-known restaurant?

5.2. View That It Is Too Early to Draw a Conclusion

However, it is also difficult to conclude that the restaurant was at fault based only on the facts currently available. MBC is the only outlet to have reported the incident, and the restaurant says its own comprehensive review found no problems with the detoxification process. The Guri case cited above involved an unlicensed owner who personally prepared the pufferfish, but it is not known whether this restaurant employed a certified pufferfish cook or whether government authorities investigated the incident. Above all, no food samples were collected, leaving no evidence with which to establish the cause objectively. For now, it remains necessary to wait for the insurer’s findings and any subsequent legal judgment.

6. Trivia

• Among previously reported deaths linked to pufferfish dishes, some involved unlicensed owners who prepared the fish themselves. In June 2020, at a restaurant in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, one customer died after eating pufferfish prepared by an owner without a pufferfish-cooking certificate, while another was treated for symptoms of paralysis. In 2023, a court sentenced the owner to eight months in prison, suspended for two years.
• In a 2016 interpretation of the relevant law, the Ministry of Government Legislation determined that food-service businesses preparing and selling pufferfish must employ a cook certified in pufferfish preparation.