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> We had (have?) a scare too; at christmas our company did a fancy gala dinner party, and the starter was a fish tartare of sorts. A few days later my GF had di

> We had (have?) a scare too; at christmas our company did a fancy gala dinner party, and the starter was a fish tartare of sorts. A few days later my GF had diarrhea, turns out there's a parasite in that type of fish that causes it days later. It's safe to assume all fish are a parasite risk (for instance due to nematode worms or cod worms) - with the notable exception of tuna, and most farmed salmon. However! In the US, all non-tuna fish is required to be frozen to -4F for at least 7 days or -31F for 15 hours to kill parasites. [1] You can make sushi - or tartare - out of any US frozen fish. If you caught parasites it would have either been fresh fish, which (except for tuna) is never ok to use according to the FDA - or the cold chain was improperly maintained. In either case it could even be worth a report to local health authorities. However tartare or ceviche or any other kind of raw fish preparation in the US is safe if it's made from tuna or (properly) frozen fish. [1] https://www.fda.gov/files/food/published/Fish-and-Fishery-Products-Hazards-and-Controls-Guidance-Chapter-5-Download.pdf https://www.fda.gov/files/food/published/Fish-and-Fishery-Pr...

kijin 3y ago
Is there a reason why tuna is specifically called out as an exception? I would imagine that tuna, being near the top of the food chain, would accumulate an awful lot of things in their bodies, not just mercury as commonly feared.
- arcticbull 3y ago
  Weird eh? My understanding is tuna don't get parasites as often. I read about it here. [1] > Exempted from the FDA's freezing requirements are, as Herron mentions, large species of tuna—deemed safe based on the frequency with which they are eaten in raw form and the infrequency of related, documented parasitic infection—as well as aquacultured fish, like salmon, given verification that the feed it's raised on is parasite-free. > To meet FDA guidelines, every other type of fish must be frozen to those temperatures, even if the table does not indicate that it carries a parasite risk, because it "may have a parasite hazard that has not been identified if these fish are not customarily consumed raw or undercooked." [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-prepare-raw-fish-at-home-sushi-sashimi-food-safety https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-prepare-raw-fish-at-home-...
  - simiones 3y ago
    Based on this, it sounds more like tuna is the only fish we know is mostly parasite-free, not the only fish that is mostly parasite-free. Perhaps most fish is actually parasite-free, but since we don't have enough evidence of that, the FDA is not going to allow selling it unfrozen.

kijin 3y ago

Is there a reason why tuna is specifically called out as an exception? I would imagine that tuna, being near the top of the food chain, would accumulate an awful lot of things in their bodies, not just mercury as commonly feared.

arcticbull 3y ago
Weird eh? My understanding is tuna don't get parasites as often. I read about it here. [1] > Exempted from the FDA's freezing requirements are, as Herron mentions, large species of tuna—deemed safe based on the frequency with which they are eaten in raw form and the infrequency of related, documented parasitic infection—as well as aquacultured fish, like salmon, given verification that the feed it's raised on is parasite-free. > To meet FDA guidelines, every other type of fish must be frozen to those temperatures, even if the table does not indicate that it carries a parasite risk, because it "may have a parasite hazard that has not been identified if these fish are not customarily consumed raw or undercooked." [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-prepare-raw-fish-at-home-sushi-sashimi-food-safety https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-prepare-raw-fish-at-home-...
- simiones 3y ago
  Based on this, it sounds more like tuna is the only fish we know is mostly parasite-free, not the only fish that is mostly parasite-free. Perhaps most fish is actually parasite-free, but since we don't have enough evidence of that, the FDA is not going to allow selling it unfrozen.