KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 ― Penang health authorities have warned the public to be wary when buying fish fillets at wet markets as a few traders were selling some made from the deadly pufferfish.

Local daily The Star reported Penang health executive councillor Dr Afif Bahardin as saying that the authorities have alerted the state Fisheries Department about it, with an official quoted saying that it would first check how widespread the problem was.

The Star reported that demand for pufferfish was low and pufferfish fillets were sold only by a few fishmongers. They were reportedly sold at RM20 per kg.

"We sell it to restaurants or to hawkers selling fish noodles,” a fishmonger at the Cecil Street market was quoted saying.

"The supplier told us the gutting is done by those who know how to do it, before the fish is sold in the market,” he added.

The Star reported that the pufferfish has now found some commercial value and that pufferfish fillets were a substitute for more expensive fish types used in restaurants for appetisers and in hawker food like fish porridge or fish noodles.

The paper highlighted the danger in the sale of pufferfish at wet markets, noting that those who gutted the fish were not likely to be trained in properly removing the poisonous parts ― the liver, eyes, eggs, blood and skin.

The Health Ministry is reportedly planning to amend the Food Act 1983 to prohibit the import, preparation, advertisement or sale of pufferfish unless it is "first made safe by qualified persons”.