FOOD NEWS

Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles, has died at 96. His instant noodles are much safer than the murderous mochi:

Four men choked to death Monday and Tuesday in Tokyo and Niigata and Ibaraki prefectures, and seven other people in the capital became critically ill after choking on traditional New Year's "mochi" rice cakes, officials said.

Mochi could well replace fugu as Japan's food to die for:

Scientists in Japan have succeeded in breeding the notoriously lethal fugu puffer fish — which has killed scores of Japanese gourmets — but without its poison.

The breakthrough not only threatens to take the thrill out of eating the famous delicacy, it could also damage the livelihoods of Japan’s fugu chefs, who are specially licensed by the Government to remove deadly organs from the fish and who charge dearly for their expertise.

A guy I knew back in the early '80s thought he knew how to cut up blowfish to avoid its toxins. Against advice he prepared one and ate it. When his mouth started going numb he rushed to the local hospital for treatment. Luckily he wasn't badly poisoned and would have been out of luck had he been -- a small regional hospital wouldn't have been able to do much to help and the Flying Doctor probably wouldn't have made it in time. Stupid but lucky.