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PEPPER SOUP ADDICTS, BEWARE OF CATFISH

Catfish production and sales are enjoying unprecedented boom in Nigeria. Thanks to the hype in fish farmers patronage by pepper-soup joint operators who dot strategic points on streets of cities and urban centres in the country. These outlets are also called Point and Kill poimts. Experts on Yahoo health has published a list of 10  fish species to be avoided by consumers, and top on the list is the common catfish – Clarias gariepinus. 

Cat Fish 

Many reasons were adduced, but the fear is that the fish have antibiotics already banned in the United States of America (USA).  Among the other nine species listed by the Yahoo experts, many were fingered as having high content of mercury.  Mercury,  easily absorbed as methylmercury through the consumption of fish and shellfish, is  highly toxic to humans.  Once in the circulatory system, mercury passes through the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain, damaging the central nervous system. As the body tries to rid itself of these toxins, gaseous mercury is oxidized to divalent mercury which accumulates in the kidneys and later cause kidney damage.  Other fish species implicated in the report includes Shrimps, eel fish, shark, mackerel, seabass, swordfish and tuna. 



Shrimp