Health Officials Warn Against Eating Ventura Shellfish

VENTURA (CBSLA.com) — Health officials have issued a warning for diners to avoid eating shellfish, crustaceans and certain fish from Ventura County after a dangerous toxin was detected in some species.

Ventura County Health officials say the warning includes mussels, clams, anchovies, sardines and the innards of crab and lobster caught along the Ventura coast.

Officials say dangerous levels of domoic acid, a nerve toxin, have been detected. The acid is a naturally occurring toxin that can cause illness or even death, but no cases have been documented thus far.

Symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea can occur within 30 minutes to 24 hours after eating the poisonous food.