Raw Fish Safety (bacteria and parasite education for sushi lovers)
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- Опубликовано: 24 апр 2016
- The two risks we need to address to serve fish raw at home are bacteria and parasites.
Bacteria
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When the fish dies, bacteria start decomposing its flesh and multiplying very quickly. Bacteria growth can be minimized by bleeding and gutting the fish immediately after death, and storing it on ice. As the temperature drops, bacteria growth drops off exponentially. Exposing the fish flesh to air introduces more bacteria, so you want to fillet the fish as close to serving raw as possible.
To ensure that these conditions are met, buy your fish from a high end fishmonger who has a good turn over, and from a fishmonger who is comfortable answering your questions. Ask the fishmonger when the fish was filleted. If the answer is “today”, you are in good hands. But please don’t panic if the fish came to the store a few days ago. Whole fish can last very well on ice. If you want to eat the fish raw, I suggest you do so within 24 hours after purchase.
Keep the fish between ice-packs as soon as it’s in your possession (even in the car and in your fridge).
Parasites:
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Now let’s talk about parasites. Although the kingdom of marine parasites is extremely diverse, the only 3 that you need to worry about are are cod worm, anisakis, and tapeworm. Those can live in mammals, which is you. The other ones can’t, so they are harmless. Fish that are prone to these species of parasites should not be consumed raw (at least not without freezing). Of particular concern are freshwater fish and pacific fish, like wild salmon. The incidence of parasites in some of those fish is as high as 90%.
Safe Species:
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Now that I’ve ruined fish for you, let me assure you that not all is lost. Among wild denizens of the seas, tuna, scallops, and oysters are free from cod worm, anisakis, and tapeworm.
Farm-raised fish that are aqua-cultured in huge pools (vs the ocean) are completely parasite free. This includes arctic char, and Mediterranean bass (branzino).
Farm raised salmon is raised in cages in the ocean. Whether these fish pose a parasite risk or not depends on how the farm is set up. Since it’s not easy to find out, it’s best to freeze farm-raised salmon before eating it raw.
Wrap it tightly in plastic, place in the freezer bag and freeze. 7 days in the home freezer is sufficient to kill parasites. To defrost, move it to the fridge 24 hours before serving.
I can’t get a straight answer from any source about parasites in hamachi. But since the only hamachi available to me in Boston is imported from Japan in the frozen state, I don’t need to worry about parasites.
Does freezing solve all the problems?
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I know what you are thinking -- can’t we just freeze all fish? In sushi restaurants, most fish is frozen, but they have a freezing technology that doesn’t allow water to crystallize. This prevents fish from turning mushy. Freezing halibut, fluke and most other white fish in a home freezer completely destroys their texture. But salmon freezes quite well in a home freezer because it’s fatty.
Oh, and by the way, the freezer section in your supermarket is not a good option for raw consumption. Although the parasites in those fish are long dead, the bacteria are not. Freezing pauses bacteria growth, but doesn’t kill bacteria. Most of those fish have been through a lot of transportation. In some cases, they were frozen and defrosted numerous times. Even if they were safe, their flesh is often mushy and the flavor is dull.
Cured fish
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If you like your fish cured in acid or salt, like ceviche or gravlax, keep in mind that unlike heat, acid and salt do not kill parasites. So the same precautions that apply to raw fish, apply to cured fish. 
Хобби
“Safe sushi”
Alright, this vid is what I’m looking for.
“And safe sex”
...What?
It also has 69k views rn 🤦♂️
@@yolomcswagginsmcswaggins7030 I don’t get your reaction.
@@yolomcswagginsmcswaggins7030 nice
As a christian, hearing that made me feel uncomfortable 😑
No click bait crap no pointless crap; very well done.
why I love this channel! straight up informative and presented with clarity, and entertaining exactly because of this! Best cooking channel on youtube
+J0cked Ahh -- I am blushing :)
Very informative. I've been looking for information on raw fish for sushi and this was short and simple. Thank you Helen
+jackeline aguirre So glad this video was useful to you!
Not gonna lie, that... that first sentence caught me off guard.
Well alright.
If only this reached me sooner! My roommate got sick a couple months ago after eating raw salmon that was not properly frozen. Thank you Helen for all your hard work and looking forward to your next video.
I fond a worm in my fish and had i minor freak out, started googling and found this channel. Learned so much!
Great short summary of information Just one concern. To kill parasites it needs to be frozen at -15°C for not less than 96 hours, or -20ºC for 24 hours or -35ºC for 15 hours. It’s hard to be done at home. Also, in companies, they stack the water dripping products on top of each other resulting uncertainty of maintaining the freezing temperatures. Causing some parasites to survive even though it’s frozen before. It’s something that industry needs very strict regulation. Remember Japan is the most country that gets this fish parasites since they eat fresh also. Not sure if other country sushi restaurants are using fresh or frozen. But it is not an easy job and each government needs to step up and make industry or related restauranteurs realize and get educated repeatedly considering how much people are eating sushi and sushi products in the market.
*The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the other hand advises freezing fish at either minus 20 degrees for seven days, or minus 35 degrees until solid and then storing at minus 20 degrees for 24 hours.
Interesting, so using a household freezer is not enough to kill parasites? :(
@@overratedprogrammer if its below freezing for a long time its equivalent to a deeper freeze for a shorter time, like pasteurization. hence 96 hours vs the 1 week rpesented here
Thank you Helen for all the information. This is exactly what I was looking for. My wife loves ceviche and we also love sushi. Now we know how to minimize the risks.
I've scoured RUclips for an answer to the question of whether raw fish is edible and what kinds. You've answered in the most efficient and effective way. Well done and thank you.
Worth watching more than once since you unpacked a lot of info! (Still presented on the simplest level). You also clarified "farm-raised" for me as I would turn my nose up to that label.
+Bernie Kida So glad you found it useful Bernie! By the way, if you click "show more" below the video, you'll get the main points of the video in text form. Might be easier for skimming to find info.
"Safe sushi and safe sex"
...
And this is officially my favorite raw fish safety video ever. I hate that I'm nearly 3 years too late to it...
Excellent info, thanks for presenting the facts. You know more about raw fish than many of the fishmongers I've worked with and certainly more than most restauranteurs!
+Kari Coad Thanks Kari! I owe everything that I know about parasites to a wonderful German professor of parasitology, Dr. Harry Palm. We started corresponding many years ago because I wanted to learn about this subject. When he came to a conference in Boston, we went fish shopping together and he showed me all sorts of creatures most people never notice. I realize how disgusting this seems at first (it took me years to get over it), but it's no reason to stay away from fish, even raw fish. It's just important to understand what's a real risk to your health and what's just icky.
Thank you for the information, but not everyone has access to a fishmonger. I’ll let everyone in on a tip to find the best raw fish for sushi: go to the sushi bar at your local grocery market and ask to buy some. They’ll most likely oblige and it will be a fair price per pound!
Outstanding presentation! Your video is without a doubt the most informative video on this subject on RUclips!
Thank you so much for this Helen. I had no idea at all about parasites.
Out here in 2019 with the most informative information on how to DIY sushi. Going to freeze some Costco tuna and farm raised Atlantic salmon for some good home cooking. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing this with us! I was afraid to try sushi at first because one of my friends told me I could get tapeworms, but now I know which fish I can eat with out the risk of getting tapeworm or something similar.
good luck with your sushi at home :)
What a GREAT video! Really well explained. Congratulations!
You are an amazing teacher!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!!
I saw this video some times ago. Now I have a presentation for school on food safety, so I came back. Wonderful information, but thank goodness for timestamps!
Very informative and well explained video. Will be sharing with my friends. Thanks
Where can I find your video on safe sex?
So... to sum up everything is dangerous if I buy from supermarkets
Really really excellent video, Helen. You're a global treasure!
Fantastic video! My wife and I moved to the Maine and really miss access to good sushi. I’d like to start doing salmon sashimi at home with the Scottish salmon. A video on buying salmon and prepping it for sushi at home would be golden!!!
Here are all my raw fish videos. ruclips.net/p/PLaaYCMq3l7jvsr4QbfzB54FqdTz-dHrXc
Thank you so much for this video! So useful
One of the best summaries I've seen.
Hi Helen, I’ve got a question regarding sashimi and thought you might know the answer to.
I reside in Hong Kong and a lot of fish are not frozen for raw consumption in restaurants (I would send you the sources but they’re not in English) Not only is it not frozen but some fish are gutted, filleted, and salted then put in the fridge for up to a week before serving 🤭 It is said that this process of aging the fish develops natural MSG, umami, concentrates the flavor, and apparently improves the texture in some fish?
Although the texture and taste might have been improved, how high are the bacterial and parasitic risks? 🤭🤭 I’d also like to thank you for reading this lengthy comment! Thank you so much for making such educational videos!
Hope you are safe, happy and well!
Excellent and informative. Thank you!
brilliant video Helen!!!
Very good video, straight to the point
Hi, I wish I found this video sooner.
Which species of tuna are free from all tapeworm, codworm, and anasakis?
Thank you so much for telling me all this. I’ve been wanting to make some poke bowl for the first time. But I thought it would be best to do a lot of research before doing so. Let’s just say I had noticed that my favorite sushi (salmon nigiri) at my grocery store aren’t usually everyday available until the weekends. Which led me to here. 😅
That was a very good video. Thank you
Great Video - Very informative! Thank you!
It would help to provide references to back up your claims on parasite free fish, or at least expand on their life cycle and technology used in closed pools?
Just chew your sushi, chewing should kill the worm.
w23857980 lmao 😂
Or break it off into more worms!
w23857980 yessss dr w2
w23857980 *angrily chews every bite* fuck you worms
New flavor
I've bought salmon fish fillets already frozen from IKEA. They are farmed. Would these be safe to consume raw? They are aquacultured stewardship council certified.
You are adorable, smart and funny!! 😊
Helen, does freezing at home for seven days kill tapeworm in pork as well? And how likely is a cured pork product to have tapeworm in the first place? I know pork tapeworm is virtually nonexistent in the US, but I live in India where it is still a problem.
Thank you for very usefull information!~
Yo this is lefit a really good guide one of the best
I purchased some salmon from either Aldi or Wal-Mart in Illinois. I cooked half of it and threw the other half into the freezer. It's probably been in the freezer for more than a month, but definitely at least a month.
Can I defrost this salmon and eat it raw?
Thank you for this very informative video
Very good summation, I've been freezing farmed salmon for years when I want it raw. My question is about the bacteria from the fishmonger, ie, the salmon cut on the slab with everything else. Is washing under the tap sufficient to wash off bacteria when eating raw? I watched you cut up salmon for your poke bowl, and it was perfectly trimmed and had been deboned, how is all that achieved without introducing bacteria? ie, can you be confident that the fish is clean if you have bought a fillet, or do you need to fillet the fish from the whole animal yourself to be sure on the hygiene/bacteria side.
There are no guarantees with raw food (this includes a salad or a fruit). That being said, I've never had a problem with bacteria being high enough to make anyone sick.
I am not ready for this video. oh at all. I love you so much. you are so inspirational and well spoken. my jaws dropped so fast it hit lil x nas in hell
so if you freeze salmon at -20 for 24 hours and then cure it, should be enough for saying it is a safe salmon?
very peacful info to watch... i loved it.
so in a bunch of American chain grocery stores like Walmart/ralphs/Kroger's/albertsons et . it is NOT safe to use the salmon that's advertised as "fresh never frozen" for sashimi/lox/cold smoke right?
if it's farm raised, the chance of parasites is very slim. if it's wild, I would never used it for raw dishes without freezing. that being said, I don't know if I'd use walmart's fish for raw preparations. You want fish that was filleted as recently as possible. I doubt walmart's have a fishmonger in every store. their fish was likely filleted 3-4 days before you bought it (that's the best case scenario ;)
Hi does Tuna sashimi contains cod worm ?
Thumbs up just for that introduction.
I’m from the Boston area, where do you normally purchase your fish?
How long can you keep the salmon in the freezer?
Teacher : Your introductory topic sentence needs to catch the readers attention.
Helen Rennie : Say no more fam
0:00
So we eat frozen dead tape worm segments
one of the best cooking channel
+josh4all Thanks :) You made my day!
First few sentences had me like "What did she just say???" Lol 😆
I feel better now. Thank you
same
Hi! just watched your video, you mentioned to freeze the fish before consuming. Does this work if you first do the gravlax and then freeze it?
Yes, gravlax freezes great! I would recommend curing the fish first, then drying it thoroughly, wrapping in plastic, sealing in a freezer bag and freezing. It will lose less moisture after it was cured. If you make gravlax with wild salmon, I would strongly recommend freezing. Salt doesn't kill parasites.
Helen Rennie
I love your humor!
Excellent video. Is there a list or resource out there that lists all parasite free fish? I love hamachi/yellowtail and mackerel but not sure if that's safely home preparable or restaurant only.
+vavavvavava Unfortunately, I don't have a list to point you to, but if I find something I'll let you know. The reason a list is so hard to put together is that the origin of the fish makes a difference. Hamachi is farm-raised in Japan, so it's fine to eat raw (no parasite issues). Mackerel can have parasites, so you need to freeze it first. Mackerel is usually salted in sushi restaurants. You can get videos on-line how to prepare it. If you plan to salt it, I would do that first and THEN freeze it. Salt will help it retain moisture during freezing.
Yes please check the FDA website there is a guide on fish and their parasite levels.
I thought home freezers don't go cold enough to properly kill parasites? I was reading some places saying -7 degF was needed
+Anthony Ng Home freezer just takes longer. I don't remember how long commercial freezers take since I don't have one, but it's 3 or 4. Home freezer takes 7 days.
+Helen Rennie thanks, out of curiosity, how cold is your freezer? Mine says it can goto -6degC. I'm sure I'm fine, I just wanted to make sure I educate myself fully in terms of temp for controlling one thing and salt for controlling another thing! :) I've been trying some cold smoking and gravlax and everyone has different opinion and method but no full explanation of why they do things :)
Thank you!
I'm mainly into ahi and yellow tail when it comes to sushi and poke. No mention? Plus, I would never eat any salmon but wild caught Pacific salmon. Always cooked, though, but kinda rare. I buy it frozen solid at Trader Joe's. Never had a problem. I enjoyed this video, mainly because it's a very pleasant video to watch.
ahi tuna is yellowfin tuna. yellowtail is not a tuna. it's an amberjack. in japanese restaurants it usually goes by the name of hamachi. fish go by many names :)
She knows her shit. I love it. Subscribed!
Helen thanks for the very informative video. I only have one question. What if the farm raised salmon was previously frozen? Freeze it again?
No, never freeze the fish twice. If your salmon was already frozen once that's sufficient to kill parasites.
Yes I knew that is never a good idea I just wanted to clarify. So basically you are saying fresh previously frozen high end farm raised salmon is ready to eat raw correct? If it hasn't been frozen follow the instructions in the video. I've been looking at curing the salmon as an extra precaution but I am not really sure what the taste/texture difference would be. Could you enlighten me if you have tried both? I've had smoked salmon many times. Again thank you so much for the lesson.
curing it will help with bacteria, but not with parasites. freezing will help with parasites, but not with bacteria. Are you shopping at a high end fish market or a supermarket? If it's a supermarket like wagman's or whole foods, you might be able to get a very high quality product. At least where I live, those two supermarkets have very good fish. If it's regular supermarket, I wouldn't get anything either fresh or frozen to serve raw. Keep in mind that freezing only helps with parasites. You really don't know how that fish was handled unless it's explicitly labeled that it's intended for raw consumption. Whole foods sells some frozen salmon intended to be used raw. If the people selling you the fish, are not comfortable telling you that you can eat it raw, it's probably not a good idea.
That's the main reason I asked the questions. Where I live along the S Jersey shore we have no high end trusted sources. Great advice, Ill take a ride with my cooler! Thank you again you are very kind!
Best information video on RUclips
Why is their a parasite risk for fisherman on boat? Thank you!!!
So would supermarket frozen salmon be fine if you were to sear the outside to kill bacteria
probably, but there are no guarantees what conditions that frozen salmon has been through.
I’m a big fans of sashimi, and I like to practice myself. Your vid. Is very educational, direct to the points and fun to watch. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Lots of thumbs up 👍🏻.
Thank you❤️🙏
Thank you You are amazing
Holy bawls she started so meta! Does she write for John Oliver?
Vibrosis with raw oysters ?
Great information
Does smoking salmon kill bacteria or parasites?
So i bought a salmon fillet from BJs and its in the freezer right now so that the parasites can be killed for raw consumption in 7 days. Would you recommend still eating it because the possibility of bacteria or will the time in the freezer kill the bacteria as well?
the time in the freezer will NOT kill bacteria. Personally, I wouldn't eat it raw.
@@helenrennie okay thank you for your feedback. I will try to get a fresh farm raised fish next time and try it with that one using the methods
Please reply.. Can my freezer kill tapeworm eggs? Like if I buy fresh water fish and store it in the freezer for one whole day?
Nope
I always thought that fish deemed 'sushi grade' had to be frozen much colder than the average home freezer is capable of... ?
that's probably true if you want to sell it :)
Thank you thank you thank you for just getting to the point 👏🏽👏🏽 you're a rare jewel
Do i need to add salt on fish and store in freezer?? Because i saw some other videos.. That they wash wish with salt.
it depends on the fish. Mackerel is normally cured with salt, but other fish are not. I discuss freezing to kill the parasites if necessary in the video.
Thnx so so so much
Brilliant!!
nice way to start off the video
Tapeworms are just like little friends :)
I hope somebody can still read and answer this. My question is: Do you really need to eat sushi and sashimi with wasabi. Sorry but I'm not a wasabi person.
Very informative, my girlfriend wants to make sushi with salmon from lidl, hope we don't die
Thank you
Here's what I don't understand: if freezing the salmon kills parasites, would it not just leave a bunch of frozen parasite corpses inside the flesh that remains there right up until serving to be eaten? I love me some sashimi but I've always wondered what actually becomes of the parasites after their death
So I got salmon from a local store and idk anything about it 🤦 but its been frozen for weeks so do I still gotta cure my salmon to eat raw? I've been told its okay to make Sashimi with frozen salmon
freezing will kill parasites. it does nothing for bacteria. you know nothing about this salmon. I wouldn't eat it raw.
@@helenrennie thought the same thing lol thanks.
What if I buy it (not sushi grade) and freeze it straight away, will I get a parasite?
that's fine. You can freeze it yourself for 7 days and that should eliminate the risk of getting a parasite. Just make sure the fish is very fresh.
So if u freeze it for 7 days parisites will die and also their eggs..i love sashimi..but am afraid of having worms
@@helenrennie but the eggs wont survive after those 7 days?
Is it safe to eat lightly smoked salmon raw? I found it in M&S...
Amir Shenouda yes u idiot
If its smoked then it isn't raw
If you want to eat the fish raw, do so 24 hours after your purchase.
To eat salmon raw, freeze them in the fridge for 7+ days.
??????? I’m confused. So what should I even do with my salmon?
She mentioned to freeze the wild caught and eat the purchased.
I have a solution. I just dunk my sushi in bleach instead of soy sauce
Patrick Kane hahaha
Pastafarian are you still alive bro
I tried that but it turned my Balls white
The fact that he hasn’t replied yet is worrisome…
😂
I have 2 questions: After I make Sushi from home, how many days can it be fresh before it goes bad? 2nd Q, After I finish making fresh Sushi at home, and let's say I want to freeze several what is the best way do you think? Thank you, for any info.
Days? sushi should be eaten immediately after making. If you'll be refrigerating your sushi, don't bother making it. Go to Whole Foods and pick some ready to eat bad tasting sushi ;) safety wise, raw fish should be eaten within 24 hours.
What if I don't use the fish. But only avocado and crab meat, with rice and seaweed? Would be wise to leave it in the frigerated for some days or freeze it?
sushi rice tastes awful after refrigeration.
The procedure is different depending if it's whole fish, gutted/bled whole fish, fish fillets or already made sashimi/sushi pieces. Temperature it's stored in also matters. With already made sushi/sashimi, it should be eaten/disposed of within 24 hours.
Freezing salmon in your home freezer must be at -4f for 7 days. Most freezers at home set at 0f
I TOTALLY WOULD HAVE POISONED MYSELF I THINK I WILL JUST GO TO THE RESTAURANT
Can I cure fish and freeze it to kill the parasites?
yes you can.
So i can just go buy raw Ahi Tuna from the store, eat it and i don’t have to worry about parasites?...
right. no worry about parasites with ahi tuna. this doesn't mean that you don't have to worry about bacteria. that tuna needs to be very fresh.
Helen Rennie
Thank you for your response and wonderful video!!!
Good Vid!
Bon Appetit...
😎