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Author Topic: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon  (Read 7904 times)

scouterjames

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Came from Superstore.... same supply comes here?!?  Not to mention; FREEZE the Fish before smoking!!

http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/health/11665367/story.html


Sushi lovers, beware: stomach-burrowing parasites may bite if you try to make the Japanese delicacy at home.

An Alberta man had the misfortune of hosting the first-recorded Canadian case of a nasty parasitic worm from raw fish he bought at a grocery store.

Doctors at Calgary’s South Health Campus were stumped when a 50-year-old man showed up in the emergency room in August 2014 in extreme pain with perpetual vomiting, doctors report in a paper published last month.

“This is such a rare, unusual etiology, I don’t think most people would put it too high on their list,” said Dr. Stephen Vaughan, an infectious diseases consultant with a special interest in tropical medicine.

An X-ray and CT scan showed irregularities in the man’s stomach just hours after made himself sushi at home with raw wild salmon he bought at a Calgary Superstore.

When a gastrointestinal specialist sent a little camera down his throat into his stomach, what he found was the stuff of squeamish people’s nightmares.

Worms, about a centimetre long, were chomping their way through the man’s stomach lining. Doctors plucked a few of the larva out using endoscopic forceps, Vaughan said.

A microbiologist identified the worms as anisakis, which, on rare occasions, infect people who eat raw or undercooked seafood, the doctors report in the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology.

In a shudder-worthy description, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says some diners feel a tingle in their mouth and throat when they unknowingly eat the worms.

Alberta has rules governing how restaurants must prepare sushi to prevent these kinds of infections, Vaughan said. Raw fish must be frozen below -20 C for at least a week or flash frozen below -35 C for at least 15 hours.

An experienced sushi chef can sometimes see the creepy critters inside raw fish as they chop open the animals, he said.

Loblaws, which owns Superstore, was unaware of the worms incident, company spokeswoman Catherine Thomas said in an email.

“We have extremely rigorous policies and procedures to ensure the safety of the food in our stores. We do not market any of our fish for raw consumption,” Thomas said.

Raw farm-fed salmon and saltwater fish such as tuna are generally safe to eat, Vaughan said. However, the possibility of other parasites and bacteria in seafood prompts the paper’s authors to warn doctors to tell their patients to avoid eating raw fish at home.

The treatment of choice is to pluck the worms out of the patient’s stomach,- both to help stop the symptoms and to identify the culprit. Left untreated, pain could last for weeks, and the worms could poke a hole in the stomach, leading to dangerous complications, Vaughan said.

“Sushi’s becoming increasingly popular. As more and more people eat sushi at restaurants, they’re going to be inclined to make sushi at home. If that’s the case, we’ll probably see more cases of this,” Vaughan said.

Calgary’s amateur sushi chef recovered within a couple of days, Vaughan said, and has no long-term effects.

He doesn’t know if the man ever made sushi at home again.
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halcyonguitars

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2016, 11:57:52 PM »

I'm pretty sure they freeze sushi cuts to kill the parasites before serving.
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fic

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2016, 08:04:43 AM »

There are some medical freezers on sale on Amazon that are cold enough to kill the parasites.  Your regular home freezer just make them go to sleep.
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milo

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2016, 10:01:13 PM »

There are some medical freezers on sale on Amazon that are cold enough to kill the parasites.  Your regular home freezer just make them go to sleep.

Domestic chest freezers do the job just fine.
Mine is set at -20C, but can go all the way down to -23. Never had any issues.
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Fish or cut bait.

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2016, 08:17:30 AM »

That may be true Milo.
But those are REGULATED guidelines.
BUT!!! customer service industries (restaurants and such) are held to a higher standard.

Kinda like when you accidentally under cook something at home.

a lotta folk think they can eat raw seafood

P.S. when's the last time anyone here actually checked their freezers actual temperature?
Just cuz it says doesn't make it so.

https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0SO81t6pqNW4fwAzKPrFAx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Mym+Amp+Goes+To+11&fr=mcafee#id=1&vid=3ce9986fab4b053b555af9716d1cacf6&action=view
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Every Day

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2016, 12:20:36 PM »

Domestic chest freezers do the job just fine.
Mine is set at -20C, but can go all the way down to -23. Never had any issues.

I agree with Milo.

We use both a chest freezer, and a stand up freezer on their coldest settings. I normally play it safe and freeze the fish for a solid month. We've been eating it raw for over 2 years now, on a fairly consistent basis, and we're still alive and well.

Probably the best way to eat chinook and coho. Any other salmon I'll take a pass on though.
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RalphH

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2016, 05:01:19 PM »

here's the standard redommendations from a Provincial Health Authority:


Sushi grade:
-
Freezing and storing seafood at -20°C
(-4°F) or below for 7 days (total time), or
freezing at -35°C (-31°F) or below until solid and storing at -35°C ( -31°F) or below for 15 hours
or freezing at or freezing at -35°C (-31°F) or below until solid and storing at - 20°C ( - 4°F)
or below for 24 hours


It's thought that in the US more than half the sushi sold in restaurants is not previously frozen but sold fresh. Could be the same in Canada.

Sushi chefs traditionally relied on visual inspection to ensure the fish was free of parasites
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Easywater

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2016, 04:36:19 PM »

[Cleaned up the formatting a bit so it is easier to read]:

here are the standard recommendations from a Provincial Health Authority:

Sushi grade:

Freezing at -20°C  (-4°F) and storing seafood at -20°C (-4°F) or below for 7 days (total time), or
freezing at -35°C (-31°F) or below until solid and storing at -35°C ( -31°F) or below for 15 hours or
freezing at -35°C (-31°F) or below until solid and storing at -20°C ( - 4°F) or below for 24 hours

It's thought that in the US more than half the sushi sold in restaurants is not previously frozen but sold fresh. Could be the same in Canada.

Sushi chefs traditionally relied on visual inspection to ensure the fish was free of parasites
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Fish or cut bait.

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2016, 06:16:29 PM »

De ja vous all over again....
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clarkii

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2016, 07:38:22 AM »

The joys of scrolling fishing forums whilst having breakfast.
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milo

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2016, 11:16:31 PM »

After eating Casu Marzu in Sardinia and surviving the ordeal, I guess I can handle a previously frozen salmon worm or two. :o
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243Pete

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2016, 11:59:38 PM »

This is about as bad as a friend who told me about some people he knew who made chum sashimi.... not ocean/ silver chum, we are talking green and dark colored. They are still alive... I think.

Mmmm maggot cheese, don't see anything wrong with that. Just gotta get the little buggers off first unless doesn't mind a little extra protein. :o
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fic

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2016, 06:15:05 AM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4aqRRUDg5s

Forget frozen seafood sashimi, this is a living sashimi.  I tried something like this before and it tasted better than I imagined. 
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TimL

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Re: First-known Canadian case of worms from grocery store raw salmon
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2016, 10:21:38 AM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4aqRRUDg5s

Forget frozen seafood sashimi, this is a living sashimi.  I tried something like this before and it tasted better than I imagined.
Google Ikizukuri or ying yang fish. A live fish is as fresh as it gets!
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