ANISAKIASIS

What's Anisakiasis?

It's the only unpleasant surprise there can be if you eat raw fish. It's a type of gastro-intestinal parasite - also called roundworm. Should it stop us from eating sushi or sashimi? Only a dozen people a year in France contract the disease versus 1000 cases in Japan. Among fish that are easily infested are for instance ling, coalfish, and hake, then sea robin, herring, mackerel, cod and whiting. To avoid the disease, from which one recovers spontaneously by the way (there's no treatment for it anyway), one must keep basic principles for hygiene and preparation of the fish in mind. To eat raw fish, the abdomen part of the fillet should be removed and to make it completely safe, it's essential to freeze it two or three days ahead of time. In fact, in the fish industry, it has to be frozen for 24 hours at -18°C. Before you start making home-made sushi, make sure the fish is fresh, find out where it comes from, and to be on the safe side, freeze it.