OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The practice of offering customers the opportunity to soak their feet in a tank of toothless fish that eat dead skin cells, called a fish pedicure, has been banned by state officials.

The review of the practice was prompted by reports that a King County salon was offering the service.

An Associated Press story said the Peridot Nail Salon in Kent was the first salon in the Northwest to offer such a pedicure.

Department of Licensing officials visited a salon that provided fish pedicures last week to see the operation firsthand, and after reviewing state laws, notified the owners to stop the service.

State law requires all tools and implements used in a pedicure to be sanitized 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 and guarantee the practice doesn't spread germs or diseases, fish pedicures do not meet state safety and sanitation laws.

Health officials said they will notify all salons about the decision next week.