Enjoy your sushi - with care

Published Oct 2, 2014

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Cape Town - His body is riddled with worms burrowed into the muscles and organs under his skin. The cause: tainted sushi.

And while websites are debunking the story of a Chinese man whose flesh was a web of parasites after eating copious amounts of contaminated sashimi, alleged X-rays of his internal organs are making many rethink the popular raw fish dish.

According to John Frean, an expert in parasitology at the National Centre for Communicable Diseases, eating uncooked meat is always a risky meal.

“Fish can be infested with larvae of certain worms and when eaten raw they may cause inflammation as they try to burrow into the host,” he told the Cape Argus.

“But, we haven’t come across any reports of (infested) sushi in southern Africa.”

He explained that trained sushi chefs were taught to look out for the signs of parasites. In an article written by the Daily Mail, the paper claimed the Chinese man had gone to the hospital after complaining of a stomach ache and itchy skin.

“To his horror, scans revealed his entire body had been infected with tapeworms after eating too much sashimi – raw slices of fish.”

The images show what appears to be thousands of worms burrowed into the flesh surrounding his organs.

Snopes, a website devoted to debunking myths perpetuated on forums, e-mail chains and in the media, has cast its doubt over the story. It revealed that X-rays were part of an old study wherein a man became infested with tapeworms after eating a diet of raw beef and pork.

However, fish could be just as deadly, Frean warned.

Research has shown eating raw or undercooked fish can lead to a variety of parasitic infections. Some are mostly benign, only causing a little discomfort as the worms unsuccessful try to squirm through the lining of the stomach and the intestine. But in fresh water fish, such as trout, the parasite can be a killer.

Frean said an outbreak of gnathostomiasis (a condition caused by parasitic worms) in August 28 last year occurred in staff and South African visitors on a houseboat travelling on the Okavango Delta in north-western Botswana. He said four people on board ate freshly caught raw bream, marinated in lemon juice.

The parasite inside the fish caused them to become severely ill, suffering from skin disease and diarrhoea, but they were successfully treated and they recovered.

In some of the worst cases, the parasite which could burrow out of the digestive tract into the bloodstream and even the brain, the “host” could die, Frean said.

Should South Africans steer clear of sushi? The short answer is no. Most restaurants have trained chefs who source only the highest quality meat. If a parasite is present, years of training will stop it from making its way to the dinner table.

“People just shouldn’t be making their own sushi, it’s something that really does require a lot of training to do properly.”

But many users on Twitter have been put off raw fish as a result of the article.

“Never eating sushi again,” wrote @AmyCroffey.

“Upon seeing and reading many posts about the man who has worms in his mouth because he ate sushi, I’m super paranoid now,” chirped @Flipbeatzz.

Cape Argus

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