I usually to eat fish less than twice a week (it is the only type of flesh I consume at all) and tend to be picky about the source & species of the fish. Too much bad-business & ecological harm is masked by the consumer-driven/petroleum-sustained market, including: carcinogenic farm-raised salmon, mercury poisoning in big fish & general overfishing.
For lunch today, at one of my favorite local restaurants, I decided to enjoy a special dish: a steak of fresh wild Alaskan coho salmon.
The delicate flavor of this particularly fish, the creamy texture of the slightly-seared flesh melting on my palette & the light citrus high-note of the glaze, all came together to produce one of the most pleasurable salmon experiences in recent memory.
That was until midway through the luscious, tender cut, I found a small, transparent-white worm wriggling around in the flesh! Had I eaten one already? I immediately took my plate into the kitchen and showed the head chef my discovery.
He quickly apologized and explained that even if I'd eaten any of them, I would probably be fine. Fortunately, this does seem to be the case:
Most of these parasites cannot adapt to human hosts; quite frequently, if an infected fish is eaten, the parasites are simply digested with no ill effects.
Anyway, for now fish is off my list; I may still occasionally indulge but with even greater caution.
If you eat fish regularly, I highly recommend referring to a resource such as Best & Worst Seafood Choices or The Fish List to guide your choices.
Update: it's been eighteen-hours since the incident, and I have experienced no ill effects!
Update #2: the head chef of the undisclosed restaurant let me know that he notified his supplier, and they refunded his money for the salmon, and he promptly through it all in the trash.
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