Taiwan's estuarine shellfish live on plankton and organic matter, and heavy metals accumulate in their bodies; the fleshy parts such as the foot and adductor muscle can still be eaten, but the central viscera are best left alone. "Even the `best 'seafood today isn't fit to eat," writes Lin Ming-yu, a reporter with the Min Sheng Pao newspaper, lamenting the difficulty of finding good seafood in Taiwan.
台灣出海口貝類靠浮蝣生物、有機物質過活，如今從河口海灘打撈起來，體內累積了重金屬，斧足、閉殼肌等邊緣肉塊還可一嚼，中間內臟部位中看不中吃，「再好的海鮮也無法入口」，專寫台灣海鮮的民生報記者林明峪感嘆現代人吃得也太辛苦。