HeraldNet: Fish pedicures get the hook in Washington



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The Petri Dish

October 2, 2008

Fish pedicures get the hook in Washington

Posted at 1:31 pm by Jerry Cornfield

A King County salon must stop using live fish to eat away dead skin on customers’ feet, the state has decided.

Customers have been coming to the salon and putting their feet in tubs of water where schools of toothless fish then feasted on the dead skin cells.

FIsh pedicures are catching on all over the nation – as this NPR story explains.

But the Department of Licensing is banning them in this state because of health and safety concerns. Department staff did visit the salon to see the tiny fish in action before reaching a decision.

From today's DOL announcement:

State law requires all tools and implements used in a pedicure to be sanitized, disinfected, or disposed of after each service to protect salon customers from the possibility of disease and infections. Since the salon cannot directly sanitize the fish, these rules do not allow for fish pedicures in Washington.

Liz Luce, the department of licensing director, said:

“We are greatly concerned about the safety of salon customers who choose to put their feet in a tank of live fish to eat away dead skin. These fish are being used as tools, and we do not believe you can properly sanitize a live fish and guarantee it doesn’t spread diseases, germs, or other infections.”

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