Can Sushi be deadly?

[HereForTheDay]

Love sushi? can't get enough of Sashimi? Lots of people love to go out to an exotic Japanese meal featuring this raw fish treat. I used to love sushi. I live in New York City and you can get some world class sushi here.

What you may not know is that it can KILL you! A good friend of mine lost her father to sushi in 2002. It was the first I had heard of the problem with sushi. There are a number of parasites that can be present in sushi that can infect a person. Many of them can kill you. My friend's father died from a parasitic worm that crawls through the bodu and eventually infects the brain (video below) and has no cure. It is called Gnathostomiasis.

Restaurants freeze and then thaw the raw fish to try and kill the parasites but, as you can imagine, the method isn't always successful.

The parasites include:

Gnathostoma - from raw fish. It is a growing problem, manifested by tiny worms that burrow under our skin and, in rare cases, can get into our eyes and brain.

**YOU WANT TO WATCH THIS VIDEO**

Parasitic tapeworms - Diphyllobothrium latum - found in salmon and sea bass and other species. Once a human is infected, a tapeworm will grow inside the intestine to a length of up to 15metres over a period of weeks. It can survive for years and go undetected for weeks or months, in turn releasing its own eggs that infect other parts of the human body.

Parasitic worms called Anisakidae - found in a variety of fish

(a.k.a. Roundworms, hookworms, whipworms,) infect the body and become clinically known as anisakiasis. This is the infection of the body by the anisakis worm larva, a type of nematode. They only grow to about an inch in length. Most nematodes will die within 24 hours, but resistant ones can last longer and actually burrow into the digestive tract. In the U.S. where it is a rare occurrence, contracting anisakiasis is often misdiagnosed as appendicitis or an ulcer. Since the body of the larva has a chemically resistant exterior, treatment basically consists of going in, with a tiny camera, with a tiny flashlight attached, and a really long tweezers... if you get my drift. Unfortunately, there is no medicinal way to get rid of them.

Anisakis simplex (Herring worm) - stomach cramps, allergic reactions

Vibrio parahaemolyticus - a bacteria that causes nausea, headache, and chills

I dont know about you, but I have given up sushi. Your opinions welcome.

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/gnathostoma/

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/3/pdfs/10-1350.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/diphyllobothrium/

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/GlobalHealth/story?id=7847413

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2768117/Sushi-lover-s-entire-body-left-riddled-tapeworm-parasites-eating-contaminated-sashimi.html

https://renegadehealth.com/blog/2013/09/30/1-sushi-health-risk-parasites-with-7-tips-to-protect-yourself

https://infectiousdiseases.about.com/od/g/a/Sushi.htm

[Anonymous]

My mom is a dietician and my dad a Biochemist, and between the two of them, they have always warned me extensively about the dangers of raw food and the various "wonderful" diseases and parasites out there that can kill you. My friends love sushi and consider it a sin to eat Maki, or cooked sushi, but whenever I'm with them, I only go for cooked sushi. Neither is 100% safe but its unnerving to see the 10 warnings legally found on each menu about the dangers of eating raw food. You just don't know what's going on back there in any restaurant kitchen because of course the chef isn't going to eat the food, you are, so his concern for your health may not be 100% there. Food poisoning in general is not fun and as I know can be dangerous. I had it related to some beef almost 10 years ago, and to this day, because of it, I don't eat beef. In my own kitchen if even the hint of mishandling of any raw food, or a slight smell, left on a counter, I toss it or compost it. Let the worms have it.

[HereForTheDay]

Ah... nice to have educated parents. I have my PhD in Molecular Biology, your father and I probably share a similar background. They gave you good advice. Thanks you for reading and commenting.

[fire_fight]

After biology part 2, I have learned to never trust any meat that has not been cooked. Especially grounded hamburger meat. Than again I have always preferred that to be well done.
When it comes to sushi, it has to be prepared CORRECTLY. It has to be frozen to a certain temp AND cooked to a certain temp in order to be safe for consumption. If it has not been prepared correctly, than your body is a breading/feeding ground for parasites.

[VonHoffer]

There is a very poisonous fish in the ocean that Japanese people love the taste of and it is the puffer fish. In fact, it is the most poisonous fish there is and when eaten, the poison in its body can kill. But there are trained professionals who can remove the poisonous parts so it can be safe to eat. Still, accidents happen. For about 30 people a year, puffer fish is the last meal of their lives. Just don't eat sushi that might have. puffer fish in it.

[dartmaul15]

mostly it's du to people trying to prepare it on their own. if the place is certified, then it's safe

[HereForTheDay]

well... safe from the poison... not necessarily from the parasites...

[oracle12c]

The risk is there but contaminated food is not just related to raw fish, but anything really - beef, pork, chicken. Even cooked food can be contaminated, not with living worms but deadly bacteria. The dead bacteria can be toxic so even cooked food can kill you, the same goes for vegetable so don't worry about Suchi is't not a greater risk and most other kinds of food.

[HereForTheDay]

Yes, all raw foods pose as a risk. But sushi is more dangerous in three ways: we serve it raw on purpose so the risk is always there, the contamination is parasitic with horrible symptoms, and unlike bacterial infections from other raw meats, there are no cures for some of these infections. The garrisons parasite can be seen boring through the flesh and through the eyes. No medication can treat it. Once it bores into the brain and kidneys you will die horribly.
None of the other infections from raw meat are incurable. None are as horrifyingly painful. I would argue that sushi is considerably more dangerous for these reasons.

[HereForTheDay]

... gnathostoma. not garrisons... autocorrect

[HereForTheDay]

Trichanosis in pork is similar although not nearly so deadly. But again is a worm. It does though, have a cure unlike the parasitic worms from sushi

[oracle12c]

"there are no cures for some of these infections"

Not really, albendazole and ivermectin are treatment use for gnathostoma when surgical removal is not possible.

[HereForTheDay]

No, that is only in the early stages. The worms as they mature work into the brain and cannot be cured by either of those drugs. The worms dont reproduce so eventually, they will die (after many years). You will see if you search for the treatment regimens that the most effective treatment is still mechanical removal. This is because the worm once it reaches a certain size, is quite difficult to treat with those drugs without endangering the life of the patient. Once in the brain, treatment will not be effective.
No matter how you slice it, most dont know they are infected until it is too late. Unlike all of the other infections where there are generalized symptoms, you often dont see these infections until it is too late.

[oracle12c]

Well, there is a risk to everything... sushi should be frozen before use anyway and that should kill them and eliminate the infection risk - of course it will fail from time to time due to human error, life is dangerous and it will kill you eventually :)

[HereForTheDay]

The freezing doesn't work well. and places like supermarkets dont have the proper equipment. I maintain that sushi is much more dangerous than other raw foods. Pork is the second most dangerous... but we never would consider eating it raw.

[oracle12c]

What do you mean the freezing doesn't work well... it kills the parasites right?

[HereForTheDay]

no, it isn't very effective. It works by rupturing the cell membranes if water crystallizes within the worm. Unfortunately, many worms are built to handle freezing. They have substances within their cells that help them withstand freezing and they have a tougher cell membrane that doesn't rupture easily. In addition many worms, the tape worm for example, can survive when much of its cells are ruptured. Unlike us, they can regenerate most of their body.
In my lab, when we stored nematodes, we froze them. If freezing kills them, why do we use freezing to store them? It will kill some of them, but a lot survive. That is mentioned in the first video, I believe.
The best method to kill the worms is by the use of a gamma ray emitter. It works like an x-ray machine. It is used to sterilize a lot of foods but people have a visceral reaction to the use of gamma rays. They think it contaminates the food. (it doesnt) or that it causes some harm to the eater. The device is also expensive.

[oracle12c]

I am surprised to hear they don't all die by freezing, I assumed they could not survive freezing... why are gamma rays not mandatory then for sushi, it should be if what you say is right?

[HereForTheDay]

There is a lot of public opposition to the use of gamma radiation. People dont understand it and so they fight against it. Supermarkets can afford the perception. The equipment is also not cheap.

[oracle12c]

Ok, I give in, I will reconsider eating sushi...

[HereForTheDay]

Thanks for the discussion.

[TheGrumpyCat]

Awesome myTake and very informative, coming straight from a PhD holder in Biology.

Luckily, I never had Sushi in past, but after reading these serious consequences, i will NEVER even think about it.

I have many friends who like to eat sushi sometimes, so i will share it with my friends too.

I also watched some documentary on Discovery Channel about these parasites and parasitic tapeworm in humans and its pretty shocking.

[HereForTheDay]

Thanks for reading. Yes, the tapeworms are nasty. When I was looking for the images for this, there was one shown that was live... was nasty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQhaO1pWztw
It is that ganathostoma that really bothers me. Can you imagine a worm crawling around under your skin for years? And you can see them moving...

[TheGrumpyCat]

Yes exactly, they don't just live inside peacefully, they just go here and there and affect other areas too causing fatalities, as explained in first video and shown live in second video.

There was similar case with one of my acquaintances too, in which these things even ate flesh inside. So prevention is better than cure, as there no medicine for this yet.

[jraje]

This is exactly why I do not eat sushi with raw fish. The only sushi I eat is vegetarian sushi with rice, carrots, cucumbers, and avocado. My mom started eating raw sushi from Kroger's until I told her about the parasites.

[HereForTheDay]

Thanks for reading. Good job telling her. Most dont know that there is even a risk.

[SethsGirl]

That's maki and me, too.

[cookiesandcream]

Yeah I know the risks of eating sushi but everything you do can be potentially dangerous but that's not going to stop me from doing what I want to do or in this case eat which is sashimi or sushi

[BaileyisDarcy]

There is a reason the only sushi I eat is the sushi with cooked tuna and the spicy chicken.

[HereForTheDay]

yep. cooked is good.

[OrdinaryGentleman]

My muscles use them for nourishment.

[HereForTheDay]

lol - yep... I think it's more like they use your muscles for nourishment. :)

[OrdinaryGentleman]

I know :(

[HereForTheDay]

I saw a movie doing the research on this that showed one boring into an eye... it was nasty. You could see the worm halfway into an eyeball... nasty little things... makes my skin crawl...

[OrdinaryGentleman]

But it looks soo liberating when they take them out

[ThatBritishLad]

Everything can be deadly if you use it wrong.