The Anisakis worm | <strong>sushi's evil nemesis</strong> at Schema : more than ethnic

The Anisakis worm | sushi's evil nemesis

No, your eyes are playing tricks on you. That really is a little worm squirming all over your sashimi. This is not some ghetto sushi joint, so WTF? It happens. Each year around 2,000 Japanese fall ill from worms found in raw fish -- (nigiri and sashimi rather than the mayo playground that's called sushi). No, no, not tape worms...but tiny little worms about half an inch long known as Anisakis simplex.

The Anisakis worm actually prefer seals than human stomachs, but they're not exactly geniuses. Seriously, this worm excretes waste from its face -- its face!! -- and drills holes in seal/human intestines with an attachment called a boring tooth. Ew. Scientifically, within the circle of life, the worm's eggs leave the seal or human, grow into larvae which are eaten by small crustaceans, which are eaten by large fish, which are eaten by seals and humans alike.

Don't worry, if you ingest these worms, they die after a week or so, but they will give you stomach pains. Make sure you don't eat fresh caught fish; rather, ingest sushi that's been frozen to kill parasites and worms. Of course, if the fish is frozen longer than 2 weeks, you get that mooshy freezer burn sushi. So tragically wrong.

In general, sushi is safe. More people actually get sick from eating undercooked chicken, blue burgers and steak, and raw oysters. Line your stomach with sake, just in case...

More: Sourced from Triptych of Tokyo Tummy Tripe Terror news.3yen.com | Sourced from Sushi bars are pretty safe, but preparing raw fish at home is another matter by Mary Roach @ www.ahealthyme.com | Super gross pics of Japanese fisherman's brain full of worms @ www.interesting.vaty.net | Sushi, nemotodes and allergies by Erica Weir @ CMAJ | Photo credit from Sarah Gim's online journal The Delicious Life -- um, no worms involved there, but the pic is divine!

SOURCED FROM 3YEN:

Anisakis worms in action!