An international exfoliating treatment made headlines last year as several American nail salons and spas began offering “fish pedicures.” But now, the Florida Board of Cosmetology has banned the procedure.
During a fish pedicure, tiny carp called doctor fish (or garra rufa) eat dead surface skin on the feet, which are immersed in a vessel of water. The board contends that there is no known method of disinfecting the pool of fish between uses.
Florida becomes the fifth U.S. state to prohibit the fish pedicure, joining Washington, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Texas. It has maintained popularity in Asia, where it is sometimes performed as a full-body treatment.
