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From: cat@tommif.UUCP (Catherine Mikkelsen)
Newsgroups: net.cooks,net.med
Subject: Re: Sushi
Message-ID: <133@tommif.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 23:26:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: tommif.133
Posted: Wed Aug 14 23:26:48 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 19-Aug-85 20:56:23 EDT
References: <499@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Distribution: net
Lines: 41
Xref: linus net.cooks:3618 net.med:1872
Summary: raw fish in general

In article <499@brl-tgr.ARPA>, wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes:
> I've only had the chance to have sushi a few times, when visiting
> California, and loved it. However, since then, I've read some newspaper
> articles describing various vile and loathsome parasitical infections or
> other ill effects that can arise from eating sushi, and have been scared
> away. I was wondering if anyone out there had some hard knowledge about
> this topic -- how likely is it that I will suffer some ill effect from
> eating sushi or sashimi at a commercial sushi bar or Japanese restaurant
> in America? (Would location make any difference?)


I, too, have read literature about getting worms (or something)
from sushi and would like to know more.  I recently read somewhere that
one can not only catch worms from sushi, but also from other raw seafood,
such as raw oysters.  Glleergh.

Someone told me that the reason sushi-makers place wasabe (horseradish)
on each piece of sushi is to kill such germs/animals/whatever.  This
doesn't sound true.

I recently read the following as well:  tons of people in Japan suffer
from this parasitical infection (well said, Will).  It doesn't seem to
go away.  One should therefore not frequent sushi restaurants with
questionable habits of cleanliness, etc., since, according to the afore-
mentioned article, people who select fish for these restaurants usually
check them carefully to make sure that they haven't got, er, parasites.
(I took this to mean that sushi makers have some amount of training in
detecting fish problems.)  The article seemed to imply that one's chances
of catching this tenacious parasitical problem are in exact proportion
to the amount of sushi he/she eats.

HOWEVER:  the article was written in the SF Chronicle, last bastion of
semi-hysterical reporting (said article was sandwiched in between at
least 14 articles detailing mass murders, bizarre acts with animals and
IBM PCs, etc.  SO, as we say in the area, take it with a grain of salt.

DAMN.  And I have a combination sushi restaurant/hot tub place just down
the street!!  Can't someone quote a medical journal??

Catherine Mikkelsen
decwrl!greipa!tommif!cat