1. Microbiological test such as swab test
2. Health inspection routine, related inspection score
3. Consumer survey including questionnaires
Do you think I can do the research? I obtained many information about
seafood and safety, but only a few information or article about raw fish
such as sushi and safety. Many Americans don't want to eat raw fish
regarding sanitation. If you know about the related research, please e-mail
me.
Thank you for your attention.'
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I assume Mika is referring to Japanese restaurants in the USA. It would be
comforting to believe Mika could prove that eating raw fish is safe, but
the evidence so far is that it is not.
The main hazards of eating raw fish are the presence in the fish of:
nematode parasites in species of marine origin,
trematode parasites in species of freshwater origin,
cestode parasites in salmon,
bacteria, particularly Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
Adams, A.M. et al, (J. Food Protection, 1994, 57, 311-317) examined samples
of fish from 32 sushi restaurants in the Seattle area. Some contained
nematode parasites. They were dead or moribund, a situation ascribed by the
authors to the use of frozen fish. Presumably, if chilled, i.e not
previously frozen, fish were to be used, the parasites would be alive and
infective. In the introduction to the paper, the authors referred to 11 000
cases of anisakiasis recorded in Japan in 1988.
Adams, K.O. et al (Amer. J. Clin. Pathol., 1986, 688-689) describe a case
of illness caused by the trematode Heterophyes heterophyes from eating
sushi from freshwater fish served at a Japanese restaurant in the USA.
Trematode infection from consumption of raw fish is well documented,
(Control of Foodborne Trematode Infections, WHO Technical Report Series no
849, WHO, 1995). Again, the incidence will be low in the USA as long as
frozen fish is used as the starting material for sushi and sashimi.
Illness caused by cestodes of Diphyllobothrium species following
consumption of raw or minimally processed salmon is well documented in
North America, (Deardorff & Overstreet, 1991, Seafood transmitted zoonoses
in the United States, In: Microbiology of Marine Food Products, Ward &
Hackney, New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, pp 211-265).
I believe Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection from consumption of raw fish is
not uncommon in Japan, but I have no references to the incidence. Dalsgaard
(Int. J. Food Sci. Technol., 1998, 33, 127-138) cites a reference that V.
parahaemolyticus accounts for 40-60% of all cases of food poisoning in
Japan, and it is reasonable to assume that the popularity there of
consumption of raw fish contributes to this high proportion.
That eating raw fish poses a risk to human health has been demonstrated; I
do not see how Mika can prove otherwise. Possibly he could study the risks
in the USA, and extend the work described in the papers I have cited, but
the methods proposed by him(her)