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Seoul squirms over octopus head war
SEOUL | Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:15pm EDT
SEOUL (Reuters) - Authorities in the South Korean capital are trying to untangle themselves from a slimy row: how many octopus heads is it safe to eat?
Octopus heads are a favorite dish on the peninsula -- for their apparent aphrodisiac qualities. In September, the Seoul city government enraged restaurateurs and the fishing industry when it announced octopus heads contained hazardous amounts of cadmium, a carcinogen that poisons the liver and kidneys. It advised against eating more than two heads a day.
Enraged fishermen threatened to sue the government and their cause caught the imagination of the public when lawmakers representing their constituents took an octopus into a national assembly session, causing laughter as it tried to escape the jar. Lee Wan-beom, a fisherman from the county of Muan, told the Korea JoongAng daily that prices for octopus had halved since the government's warning.
(Reporting by Danbee Moon; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
