Is Sushi Safe to Eat? A Chicago man sued a restaurant in 2008 for allegedly serving him a parasitic tapeworm along with his salmon. So what about the sushi or sashimi that hungry buyers pick up to go during the lunch hour rush? Sushi lovers need not fret about the raw fish they consume, food scientists say, as long as the sushi has been prepared properly according to regulations by the Food and Drug Administration. People preparing sushi themselves need to take extra care with both the raw fish and the rice. Raw fish poses several potential hazards for consumers besides parasites. Bacteria can develop in non-fresh fish and produce enzymes called histamines that may result in Scombroid poisoning. Certain tropical-water fish may also have a natural toxin called ciguatera which causes gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms. Sushi eaters don't typically have to worry because sushi restaurants take certain steps in handling and preparing their fish. A required step involves freezing fish at temperatures of -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius) for seven days, or frozen at -31 degrees Fahrenheit (-35 degrees Celsius) for 15 hours, which kills any parasites.

"As far as sushi goes, the rules are in place because people were getting sick," said Keith Schneider, a microbiologist and food safety expert at the University of Florida. play online youda sushi chef"The parasites are why we do the freezing on the raw fish."sakae sushi online booking The cases of sushi-related illness fall far below the number of people sickened by contaminated produce such jalapeno peppers. sushi delivery metro manilaEven in those rare cases, the rice in sushi is more often the culprit than the fish.pesce sushi online "I got sick eating sushi at a place I go to occasionally — a fast food place, not a restaurant — and I could swear I came out with bacillus cereus," Schneider told LiveScience.

The bacillus cereus bacteria can spread rapidly in rice that sits at room temperature. Sushi rice requires an acidic bath in a vinegary solution that lowers the PH to 4.1, killing troublemaking microbes and making sushi safer for the everyday foodie. Don't walk on the wild side Many sushi lovers feast contentedly on albacore or eel, but a few people aim for a more dangerous culinary experience by eating the raw flesh of a poisonous puffer fish called fugu. Master fugu chefs sometimes include some of the poison in their prepared dish, which creates a tingly feeling on the lips when eaten. However, improperly prepared fugu can kill due to the fish's potent neurotoxin. "I consider it more of a dare than a delicacy," Schneider said. "There are people who kill themselves every year trying to make fugu, and it gives sushi a bad name." As for trying to make sushi with raw meat other than fish, best perish the thought. "Raw chicken, raw beef has probably much greater risk," Schneider said, pointing to bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella that can sicken thousands each year in the United States.

"There are reasons you don't have chicken sushi." No food is completely without risk, but smart consumers can eat sensibly and enjoy – as long as fish are around. Expert tips for happy sushi eating The best bet for a good meal involves going to a restaurant or grabbing a sushi container from the local supermarket. If you absolutely want to prepare your own sushi, buy sushi-grade fish that has been frozen per FDA regulations. Eat your sushi as soon as possible, and do not let it sit in the fridge for more than 24 hours. Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries. We're also on Facebook & Google+.But tuna is often frozen, too, not necessarily to make it safe, but because global consumption of sushi continues to rise. Frozen fish usually costs about half as much wholesale as fresh. And some cuts, like the prized fatty toro, are not always available fresh. Naomichi Yasuda, the owner of Sushi Yasuda, the acclaimed sushi restaurant in New York City, said he imported fresh tuna but froze it himself, selling it for $10 a piece.''

American customers don't want to hear that something is out of season'' he said with a shrug. ''People want toro every day.''At the Elizabeth, N.J., warehouse of True World Foods, a manager, Ken Kawauchi, recently readied a room-size freezer to receive eight more tons of premium tuna frozen with sophisticated technology that chefs say preserves the texture and flavor of the fish.''This product is better than fresh,'' he said. ''We start freezing it almost before it's dead.''At 76 degrees below zero, you can feel your hair follicles freeze. A 20-pound chunk of premium bluefin tuna is rock hard and cold enough to burn a blister on your finger.But all it takes is a band saw, 10 minutes and a bowl of warm water to produce deep red, dewy slices of the finest sushi money can buy, the same toro served at Manhattan sushi shrines.Sabine Marangosian, who works in Midtown Manhattan, said she ate sushi ''at least once a week.'' ''I guess I would understand that some sushi is frozen,'' she said. ''But I would hope that's not the case at Nobu.''

But Shin Tsujimura, the sushi chef at Nobu, closer to Wall Street, said he froze his own tuna. ''Even I cannot tell the difference between fresh and frozen in a blind test,'' he said.Even Masa Takayama, whose sushi temple Masa, in the Time Warner Center, charges a minimum of $300 to worship, said he used frozen tuna when fresh is unavailable. Many sushi bars, in Japan and elsewhere, routinely use frozen fish when fresh is unavailable or more expensive than the market will bear.''In Japan,'' Mr. Kawauchi said, ''50 percent of the sushi and sashimi is frozen. Only my American customers are so concerned with fresh fish.''Americans have clearly overcome the initial resistance that greeted sushi when it was widely introduced nationally in the 1980's.The number of Japanese restaurants across the country has steadily increased in the past five years, according to the National Restaurant Association. And that number does not include the supermarkets, delis, cafeterias, and Costco stores where sushi can now be purchased.A.F.C. Sushi, a Los Angeles-based sushi franchiser, has more than 1,800 outlets nationwide.

It already supplies the Staples Center, in Los Angeles; Florida State University, in Tallahassee, Fla.; and the United States military, which buys sushi for its commissaries. Although the company's Web site refers to ''fresh sushi,'' A.F.C. uses only frozen fish in its products.According to wholesalers like Dave Rudie, a pioneering sushi supplier in California who sells both fresh and frozen fish, more and more frozen fish is being served as sushi here.Mr. Rudie said that worldwide, some sushi products are virtually always frozen. ''Ninety percent of shrimp, of course,'' he said, The salmon roe ''and octopus, 99 percent. And you definitely want all your salmon frozen, because of parasites.''The Food and Drug Administration does not enforce the frozen-fish rule, leaving that to local health officials. The agency says sushi fish can be frozen either by the wholesaler or in the restaurant, and each party likes to believe that the other is taking care of it. ''I always assumed that the fish is frozen at some point before I get it,'' said Jack Lamb, owner of Jewel Bako in the East Village in Manhattan, ''but just for a minute, like an X-ray.''

Ian MacGregor, whose wholesale business, Lobster Place, supplies the sushi hot spot Geisha, in Midtown Manhattan, said he had heard countless euphemisms for frozen fish in restaurants. ''Fresh-frozen, re-freshed, flash-chilled, take your pick,'' he said. But ''superfrozen'' fish seems to be in a category by itself. Many top sushi chefs are finding that fish frozen to about 70 degrees below zero, instead of the commercial standard, usually 10 below, can stand up to their rigorous standards.Tuna, one of the most expensive sushi fish in the world, has been the test market for superfreezing.Freezing technology that truly preserves the quality of fresh fish is relatively new, said Eric Graham, managing director of ColdWave Systems, a global seafood shipper.Developed by the Japanese fishing industry in the 1990's to preserve the catch on long trips, superfreezing can reduce the core temperature of a 500-pound tuna to minus 70 degrees in about a day and a half. Packed in artificial snow ground from dry ice and surrounded by liquid nitrogen, that fish can be preserved with no decomposition for as long as two years.''