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Summer, chiringuito, anchovies ... and, suddenly, anisakis!
There is a worm in my fish!
This Japanese exotic named nematode parasite is a
common tenant in fish, cephalopods, and marine mammals.
If humans become infected with anisakis, it is because we accidentally interfere with their "life cycle" by eating some fish that, in principle, had other plans for the future.
That is, we sneaked into a party, to which no one had invited us.
The anisakis life cycle: it all starts in the sea
The origin is the sea, but not in just any place.
The wheel is set in motion when certain infected marine mammals (such as whales or sea lions) throw their droppings into the sea.
This releases the eggs that develop into infectious larvae while in the water.
And this is where the party begins.
These larvae are ingested by crustaceans (prawns, prawns, lobsters ...) which then, because of the fact that the big fish eats the small fish, are eaten by fish or cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish ...).
When marine mammals, in turn, eat infected fish or cephalopods, the cycle would be closed.
Humans
sneak into this party when eating raw or undercooked infected fish we win nematode larvae as a reward.
Anisakis and humans: what does a girl like you do in a place like this
Let's put ourselves in the place of the anisakis larvae for a moment.
When we gulp them down and they accidentally enter a human body, the poor are lost in an unknown place.
I imagine them wandering through our digestive systems while they sing the success of the Burning.
And it is that they just want to survive, but they soon realize that the human being is not their ideal boy.
We cannot be its definitive host since within our body the larva cannot become an adult.
In the end, seeing that there is no future within our organism, the parasite dies, leaving us as a gift a beautiful inflammation
in the esophagus, stomach or intestine.
What can happen if I get infected with anisakis?
Anisakiasis cannot be spread from person to person. The only way to get it is by eating fish that is not fit. If we are unlucky enough to end up with a "little worm" between the chest and back, there are two possible scenarios:
anisakiasis and an anisakis allergy.
The first occurs when the parasite reaches the gastrointestinal mucosa and is often associated with digestive problems such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, blood and mucus in the stool, or mild fever.
Sometimes there are rare cases of invasion of other organs such as the lung, liver, spleen, pancreas, etc.
The second is an allergic reaction due to the antigens of the parasites - yes, it turns out that not only the coronavirus has antigens - that causes a rash and itching and, infrequently, anaphylaxis.
We can also not deprive ourselves of anything with mixed pictures, called gastroallergic,
which combine symptoms of the digestive system (vomiting, abdominal pain) and allergic symptoms.
Tips not to sneak into the anisakis party
Prevention, especially in the summer season when fish consumption increases, is essential.
In the first place, the advice that the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) gives us is to
buy clean fish without entrails,
that is, without guts.
If it is not, we must remove them as soon as possible.
Regarding the temperature (hot or cold) at which to keep the bug at bay:
Heat:
Cooking, frying, baking or grilling destroys the parasite, when the
temperature
reaches
60 ° C
for at least one minute throughout the piece.
As a guide, a piece about 2.5 cm thick should be cooked for a total of 10 minutes (turning after 5 minutes).
Cold:
If the fish is eaten raw or subjected to preparations that do not kill the parasite, it must be frozen in refrigerators that reach a temperature of
-20 ° C or lower and keep the product frozen for five days.
Important!
This temperature is only reached in refrigerators with three stars (***) or more.
If the refrigerator has less than three stars, it is advisable to buy the fish already frozen.
What foods do you need to freeze and what don't?
The foods that must be frozen when they are prepared at home
(when these products are bought processed, the freezing has already been carried out by the producer or manufacturer) are:
Anchovies in vinegar and other pickled fish.
Sashimi, sushi, carpaccios and other specialties based on raw fish.
Marinated fish, such as ceviche.
Raw or practically raw fish roe.
Herring and other raw fish prepared in brine or lightly salted.
Marine fish subjected to cold smoking.
Foods that do not need to be frozen are:
Oysters, mussels, clams, coquinas and other bivalve mollusks.
Fish from inland waters (rivers, lakes, swamps ...) and freshwater fish farms such as trout or carp.
Semi-preserves such as anchovies (in metal, glass or other presentations).
Dried fish salted in a traditional way, such as cod or mojamas.
The million dollar question: is the sale of fish with anisakis legal?
With regard to the sale in markets and supermarkets, European and Spanish legislation indicate that
fishing products that are "clearly contaminated with parasites" should not be put up for sale.
The "dimes and diretes" appear in those occasions in which the parasites are not visible and the consumer finds the cake (of worms) when arriving home. Generally the fishmongers usually return the money, although, apparently, nowhere is it written that they are obliged to do so in this particular circumstance.
For their part,
the restaurants or communities that produce these products for sale to the final consumer
are obliged to inform consumers that the raw fish products have been frozen.
If this information is not available, the consumer can request it.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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