A Japanese city has activated an emergency warning system to alert residents to avoid eating locally purchased blowfish after a mix-up saw toxic parts of the delicacy go on sale. 
 
 A supermarket in Gamagori in central Japan sold five packages of fugu fish without removing the livers, which can contain a deadly poison. 
 
 Three of the potentially lethal specimens have been located, but the other two remain unfound, local official Koji Takayanagi told AFP. 
 
 More news Dramatic CCTV footage emerges of floor collapse at Indonesia Stock Exchange 
 
 "We are calling for residents to avoid eating fugu, using Gamagori city's emergency wireless system", which broadcasts over loudspeakers located around the city, he told AFP. 
 
 "Three packages will be retrieved today, but we still don't know where the remaining two are." 
 
 Fugu is one of Japan's most expensive winter delicacies and is often served in thin slices of sashimi or hot pot. 
 
 But the fish's skins, intestines, ovaries and livers contain a poison called tetrodotoxin that can be fatal. 
 
 The part of the fish that contains the deadly poison differs from one kind of fugu to another. 
 
 Japanese chefs are required to obtain a special permit to prepare the fish, but several people in Japan are killed each year by incorrectly prepared fugu, with dozens more suffering non-fatal side effects, according to the health ministry. 
 
 "Eating a blowfish liver can paralyse motor nerves, and in a serious case cause respiratory arrest leading to death," regional officials said in a warning statement. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Fugu - the Russian roulette of dining? 
 
 A Japanese city has broadcast emergency warnings to prevent people consuming blowfish, after potentially deadly portions were mistakenly sold. 
 
 A local supermarket in Gamagori city sold five packets of fugu fish without removing the livers, which contain poison. 
 
 Three have been found but two remain missing. 
 
 The delicacy is so poisonous that the smallest mistake in its preparation can be fatal. 
 
 Each year there are several cases of fugu poisoning in the country, but not all are lethal. 
 
 City authorities in Gamagori, in central Japan, have activated an emergency system, urging people to return the potentially lethal portions. 
 
 "We are calling for residents to avoid eating fugu, using Gamagori city's emergency wireless system," which broadcasts over loudspeakers located around the city, local official Koji Takayanagi told AFP. 
 
 Fugu, an expensive seasonal winter dish, is eaten raw as sashimi or cooked in soup. 
 
 The fish's livers, ovaries and skin contain the deadly poison tetrodotoxin and special training and a licence are required to prepare the fish. 
 
 There is no antidote to the poison. 
 
 Tetrodotoxin affects the nerve system and the poisoning has been described as "rapid and violent", leading to first a numbness around the mouth, then paralysis and eventually death. ||||| A package containing a piece of pufferfish liver, top right, was sold at a supermarket in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture. (Provided by Aichi Prefecture) 
 
 GAMAGORI, Aichi Prefecture--A supermarket here apologized for selling packages of pufferfish meat containing liver, a product banned by the health ministry because of its potentially lethal toxicity. 
 
 All five packages were accounted after the Aichi prefectural government issued an alert to customers of the possibly poisoned products. 
 
 The alert sent out on Jan. 15 urged whoever bought the packs: “Do not eat them and return them to the supermarket.” 
 
 The Super Tatsuya supermarket revealed that it had been selling the product for a long time, believing it was safe for consumption. 
 
 One buyer contacted the Toyokawa Public Health Center, saying “a package of pufferfish purchased from a supermarket today contains pufferfish liver.” 
 
 Authorities checked the package and confirmed the presence of the banned liver. 
 
 The buyers of four packs, including the one who alerted the center, have contacted the store. 
 
 As for the remaining package, the supermarket president told The Asahi Shimbun on Jan. 16 that he received a phone call from the buyer, saying the contents had been eaten, but everyone was “OK.” 
 
 “I am very sorry,” the president, 77, said. “We will never sell any pufferfish again.” 
 
 Pufferfish are known to have poisonous livers. Some varieties can be deadly if not treated or prepared properly. 
 
 A staff member in charge of the supermarket’s fish department explained to Aichi prefectural authorities that the product sold contained the liver of “yorito fugu,” or sphoeroides pachygaster. 
 
 “The toxicity (of yorito fugu’s liver) is not high, and I never thought of it as poisonous,” the employee was quoted as saying. 
 
 Yorito fugu can be found from Hokkaido to southern Kyushu, according to the Toba Aquarium in Toba, Mie Prefecture. An adult fish measures about 25 centimeters long, and larger ones can grow to more than 40 cm. 
 
 According to a fish market in Gamagori, locals in the central Japan area refer to yorito fugu as “chochin fugu.” Its liver was once commonly eaten in miso soup or hot pot. 
 
 Nonetheless, the health ministry has banned sales of pufferfish liver, regardless of the species. 
 
 The Aichi prefectural government inspected the supermarket on Jan. 16 for possible violations of the food hygiene law. ||||| This Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, photo provided by Aichi Prefectural Government's Department of Health and Public Welfare shows a package containing potentially deadly liver, top right, a purchaser took it... (Associated Press) 
 
 This Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, photo provided by Aichi Prefectural Government's Department of Health and Public Welfare shows a package containing potentially deadly liver, top right, a purchaser took it to the health center in Nagoya, central Japan. The town freaked out over the sale of assorted blowfish... (Associated Press) 
 
 This Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, photo provided by Aichi Prefectural Government's Department of Health and Public Welfare shows a package containing potentially deadly liver, top right, a purchaser took it to the health center in Nagoya, central Japan. The town freaked out over the sale of assorted blowfish... (Associated Press) This Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, photo provided by Aichi Prefectural Government's Department of Health and Public Welfare shows a package containing potentially deadly liver, top right, a purchaser took it... (Associated Press) 
 
 TOKYO (AP) — A city in central Japan has used its emergency loudspeaker system to recall four packages of blowfish meat after discovering a fifth one contained the potentially deadly liver. 
 
 No one has died. The fish known as fugu is an expensive winter delicacy but requires a license because of the dangers of mishandling. The fugu's liver is toxic and banned. 
 
 Regional health officials said Tuesday a supermarket in Gamagori sold five packages of assorted blowfish meat. The inclusion of the liver in the package could have contaminated the other meat. 
 
 A buyer of one package took it to a health center Monday. With four others sold for consumption but unaccounted for, city officials alerted residents via the emergency loudspeakers normally used for earthquakes and other disasters. Two have been returned.
– A Japanese city activated its emergency broadcast system Monday not for a missile alert, but for a warning about the country's deadliest delicacy. Emergency system loudspeakers in Gamagori, central Japan, warned residents that a supermarket had sold packages of fugu without removing the liver, one of the deadliest parts of the notorious fish, SBS reports. The livers, ovaries, and skin of the fugu, or blowfish, contain tetrodotoxin, a nerve poison that authorities say can cause a "rapid and violent" death after a single bite, reports the BBC. Incorrectly prepared fugu kills several people in Japan every year. Regional heath officials say the supermarket sold five packages of assorted fugu meat, all of which could have been contaminated by the liver, the AP reports. Asahi Shimbun reports that after the emergency broadcast, which urged citizens who had bought the packages to return them to the Super Tatsuya supermarket, all five packages were accounted for. Four were returned unopened and the supermarket president says it was contacted by a fifth person who had consumed the fugu but had suffered no ill effects. "I'm very sorry," says the supermarket president, who has promised not to sell fugu again. (In a previous incident, seven people were sickened when an unauthorized chef served fugu testicles.)