It hurts us to have to report on this, but with the sheer amount of people around the world who love sushi, we feel we need to.
And the reason it hurts so much is because sushi has always been the ‘healthy option’ but gives us the same amount of satisfaction as fast food. But more and more people have been discovering something grim inside of their sushi: worms.
These worms have a name – anisakid nematode – and actually infiltrate their way into fish long before it reaches your local sushi train. It starts off as tiny eggs in the ocean which hatch into larvae, which then develop into crustaceans.
The crustaceans are then eaten by small fish – but it doesn’t end there. The parasites then burrow into the walls of the fish’s stomach, which is where they stay until finally getting served at restaurants.
What happens when you eat them? We won’t go into graphic detail, but you get sick – really sick. When eaten, the parasite causes infection called anisakiasis which comes with symptoms such as vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhoea, anaphylaxis, fever and even death.
Don’t believe us? Check out the story published in the British Medical Journal of a man who ate sushi which was tainted with worms, and ended up with intestines filled with squirming larvae.
While the infection is far more prominent in Japan, the love Australian’s have for sushi means it’s only a matter of time before it makes its way around the world and hits our shores with force.