Number One Rule When Eating Sushi
Number #1 rule - Make sure you eat your sushi with soy (vinegar) and wasabi.
First of all up front for the record, “I love sushi, Mmm-m-m-m-mmmmm.”
Like you, I’ve also heard horrible stories about raw fish and the risk of fish-borne broad (tape) or round worms.
Soy and wasabi to the rescue.
With the rise in popularity of eating sushi in the USA, a couple of ambitious scientists researched the issue and, lo and behold, it appears that the soy and wasabi actually do some good, particularly in reducing potential bacterial contaminants. H. C. Lee and E. S. Tjong, California State University, Long Beach, CA studied the microbiological safety of raw fish served at Japanese sushi restaurants and antibacterial effects of vinegar and wasabi.
They noted that seafood is very safe to eat, however, it is the most perishable of fresh foods.
Their first goal was to evaluate he microbiological safety of raw fish served at Japanese restaurants by bacterial and parasite tests in sashimi, and by testing the cleanness of serving equipment and foodhandlers’ hands.
The second one was to evaluate the antibacterial effects of wasabi and vinegar.
The study evaluated the microbiological safety of raw fish served at 20 Japanese restaurants in Long Beach and its vicinities. Bacterial growth was evaluated by three indicator microorganisms. Parasite analyses were done by nondestructive methods with ultraviolet light. Swab tests (cutting boards, knives and foodhandlers’ hands) were conducted to evaluate the cleanness, and the same microbiological tests were conducted. Four different combinations of sushi from each restaurant were tested to evaluate the antibacterial effects of vinegar and wasabi.
Bottom Line:
Bacteria counts of sushi using vinegar and/or wasabi were lower than those of sushi without vinegar and wasabi. These results suggest that consuming raw fish at Japanese sushi restaurants is relatively safe. Vinegar and wasabi play an important role of reducing some bacteria in sushi. That’s all I need to hear!
I’m off to my favorite sushi restaurant.
[Source - Article Abstract]
