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Glowing Gefilte Fish Found in U.K.

‘Brighter than a glow stick,’ witness says

by
Jesse Oxfeld
October 12, 2009

We were a bit slow to discover this news, for which we wholeheartedly apologize. But having learned it just today, we’re rushing to pass it on to you: gefilte fish, in certain circumstances, can glow in the dark. TheJC.com, a British online Jewish news source, broke the news on September 24, reporting on the Taylor family of England. “Student Jessica Taylor was shocked to see her late-night gefilte fish snack light up the kitchen of her north London family home by glowing bright green and yellow.” It seems Jessica came home very late and wanted a snack; she didn’t turn on the kitchen light before removing her snack from the fridge, and that’s when she found the phosphorescent fish. She recreated the scene the next night for her skeptical parents. “We all stood there amazed,” her father, Joff Taylor, told the website. “It was brighter than a glow-stick.” A spokesman for Moshe’s deli, where the gefilte fish was purchased, suggested that the fish might have eaten some harmless phosphorus. (“It’s good for you,” the spokesman said.) A representative of the manufacturer, Hoffman’s foods, was less credulous. “I’m a qualified microbiologist, and I have never heard of this,” said Getta Cohli. “I think it was an act of God.” Marcus Dysch, the reporter, had perhaps the best advice: “Best just to check your fish before eating it by turning the lights off. If it glows, throw it away. If it doesn’t, tuck in.”

Jesse Oxfeld, a former executive editor and publisher of Tablet Magazine, is a freelance theater critic. He was The New York Observer’s theater critic from 2009 to 2014.