Salmon parasites

[ratherbefishin]

Warning- do not eat raw salmon..it can contain parasites that grow in your gut and require surgery to remove..a friend bought a filet that looked ‘funny’ and asked me if it was safe to eat. I told her not to eat it and to take it back …later my surgeon hunting partner told me that while rare, salmon can be carriers of parasites that can cause serious problems even blocking the bowel requiring surgery to remove…

[TheObserver]

Warning- do not eat raw salmon..it can contain parasites that grow in your gut and require surgery to remove..a friend bought a filet that looked ‘funny’ and asked me if it was safe to eat. I told her not to eat it and to take it back …later my surgeon hunting partner told me that while rare, salmon can be carriers of parasites that can cause serious problems even blocking the bowel requiring surgery to remove…

I don't think it is rare but common for wild salmon to have roundworms near the belly. If you go to a store and purchase sockeye and look closely you will probably find some. Back when I use to buy a lot of sockeye salmon I would find them often, whether I bought it from a grocery store or a high end fish market. You definitely want to make sure you hit the proper internal temperature when cooking or smoking, unless it has been frozen for a specified time and temperature like sushi grade fish is, even then I don't eat raw fish anymore.

[ElectricDyck]

When I ever I serve salmon to guests I always take the skin off and look for worms before cooking, had a long worm between the skin and the meat one time that grossed out a guest..looked like the same as the worms I find in bear armpits. Lots of youtube vids of people grossed out at the supermarket seeing worms in the salmon. When I eat mine raw I let it sit in the freezer for 3 months min.

[ratherbefishin]

Salmon seem particularly vulnerable to parasites, freeze or cook well…

[Treed]

Three months in a household freezer is apparently not good enough because they don’t get cold enough. I think it has to more than minus 20…. Just googled it. Yup, minus 20. Maybe check your freezer temp.

http://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Educational%20Materials/EH/FPS/Fish/IllnessCausingFishParasitesJan13.pdf (http://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Educational%20Materials/EH/FPS/Fish/IllnessCausingFishParasitesJan13.pdf)

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Adequate cooking will kill those parasites and so will freezing.

Believe me, I know first hand about eating raw unfrozen salmon.

But my worm was only 40cm and no big deal. My body took care of it on its own.
Took a follow up dewormer just to be sure.

SSS

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Down here in Mexico we don’t seem to have a problem eating raw fish.
It did take me a bit to get up the courage to go down that road again….but I won that battle with my demons.


SSS

[Stone Sheep Steve]

This is the one I had.


https://www.healthline.com/health/diphyllobothriasis

SSS

[TheObserver]

Adequate cooking will kill those parasites and so will freezing.

Believe me, I know first hand about eating raw unfrozen salmon.

But my worm was only 40cm and no big deal. My body took care of it on its own.
Took a follow up dewormer just to be sure.

SSS

Dude, only 40cm...... brutal lol. They must get huge if thats a small one? How did the body get rid of it?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Dude, only 40cm...... brutal lol. They must get huge if thats a small one? How did the body get rid of it?

They can grow to several metres….so 40 cm is a small one.

No weight loss or any other symptoms.
Body got rid of it like normal waste.
When I went to wipe something brushed my hand.
Took a look and was mortified.

Hence my former knock name ‘worm boy’

SSS

[MB_Boy]

My late father had his PHD and Masters in parasitology; he was mortified that I would cut the bellies out of salmon on the boat and serve it diced up with a ponzu sauce.

So far so good.

We did buy some halibut when he was out here from Winnipeg a number of years back (my freezer was empty) and when opening the brown paper packaging there were worms everywhere.

In saying that when we go for early springs or any springs for that matter we always cook up some fresh as they are SO good. Cooked to medium and no problems ever.

[TheObserver]

They can grow to several metres….so 40 cm is a small one.

No weight loss or any other symptoms.
Body got rid of it like normal waste.
When I went to wipe something brushed my hand.
Took a look and was mortified.

Hence my former knock name ‘worm boy’

SSS

Berutal! Good thing you had no complications, and the body passed it on its own! Hahah yeah i'd imagine wasn't a good feeling when you took a look

[ratherbefishin]

Just lost my appetite for sushi

[jlirot]

This pops up every couple of years.

It's my understanding that parasites in saltwater fish generally do not transmit to mammals.

However, parasites in freshwater fish do. Salmon having a significant portion of their life freshwater are susceptible to the ones that mammals can host.

I've eaten lots of saltwater fresh caught sashimi (tuna, yellowtail, halibut, etc). But, I never eat fresh salmon sashimi.

Sashimi is generally best after a short aging period (I think 4 days) but sometimes it's to hard to pass up on the boat!

[Edzzed]

I would never eat raw salmon. As a kid, We ate a lot of canned salmon. When I was 18, I worked in a cannery and after what I saw. It has been plus 40 years since I ate canned salmon. Imagine grabbing a salmon by the tail and your fingers slip through it like warm butter right down to the bone. They put decomposing salmon in some cans......