Thread: From Another Newsgroup, Costco halibut

x-no-archive: yes

On 4/19/2011 2:31 PM, Cheri wrote:
> "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
> worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
> careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
> still kicking and squirming.
>
> I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
> couple days ago at the Austin location.
>
> What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
> ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
> like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>
> Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
> that matter) for sashimi."
>
>
>

It's not just Costco and it's not just halibut; bottom feeders, cod,
lots of fish have worms. Holding them up to bright light lets you see
them and pick them out.

Susan

Cheri <[email protected]> wrote:
: "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
: worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
: careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
: still kicking and squirming.

: I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
: couple days ago at the Austin location.

: What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
: ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
: like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).

: Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
: that matter) for sashimi."
lately there has been much discussion aobut worms in fish, dead or alice.
they are found, for expmple, in sardines in cans that stil have the spine
and skin , while the process of skinning and boning seems to clear out the
worms. Other fish( I don't remember all of them) seem to have this
problem. apparantly, it has been going on all the time, but ust ,
somehow, not noticed. I don't think it is specific to Costso.

Wendy

On Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:45:39 +0000 (UTC), "W. Baker"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Cheri <[email protected]> wrote:
>: "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
>: worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
>: careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
>: still kicking and squirming.
>
>: I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
>: couple days ago at the Austin location.
>
>: What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
>: ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
>: like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>
>: Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
>: that matter) for sashimi."
>lately there has been much discussion aobut worms in fish, dead or alice.
>they are found, for expmple, in sardines in cans that stil have the spine
>and skin , while the process of skinning and boning seems to clear out the
>worms. Other fish( I don't remember all of them) seem to have this
>problem. apparantly, it has been going on all the time, but ust ,
>somehow, not noticed. I don't think it is specific to Costso.
>
>Wendy


I have seen those worms in cod. Dead at the time, but unmistakeable
what they were. UGH! I do love fish and Halibut is my favorite,
but worms are truly disgusting.

On 20/04/2011 7:41 AM, Evelyn wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:45:39 +0000 (UTC), "W. Baker"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Cheri<[email protected]> wrote:
>> : "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
>> : worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
>> : careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
>> : still kicking and squirming.
>>
>> : I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
>> : couple days ago at the Austin location.
>>
>> : What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
>> : ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
>> : like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>>
>> : Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
>> : that matter) for sashimi."
>> lately there has been much discussion aobut worms in fish, dead or alice.
>> they are found, for expmple, in sardines in cans that stil have the spine
>> and skin , while the process of skinning and boning seems to clear out the
>> worms. Other fish( I don't remember all of them) seem to have this
>> problem. apparantly, it has been going on all the time, but ust ,
>> somehow, not noticed. I don't think it is specific to Costso.
>>
>> Wendy
>
>
> I have seen those worms in cod. Dead at the time, but unmistakeable
> what they were. UGH! I do love fish and Halibut is my favorite,
> but worms are truly disgusting.
Protein though and once cooked is safe

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\
On 4/19/2011 5:41 PM, Evelyn wrote:

> I have seen those worms in cod. Dead at the time, but unmistakeable
> what they were. UGH! I do love fish and Halibut is my favorite,
> but worms are truly disgusting.

At least you can see most worms, though I've read that candling won't
show those in dark flesh or very deep. The most common parasites are
nematodes and other larva, and those are very common. I read a study on
freezing, and even at 20 below zero, it took weeks, I think, to kill off
all the nematodes so they weren't revived upon thawing. BLEAH.

Susan

On 20/04/2011 7:50 AM, Susan wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> \
> On 4/19/2011 5:41 PM, Evelyn wrote:
>
>> I have seen those worms in cod. Dead at the time, but unmistakeable
>> what they were. UGH! I do love fish and Halibut is my favorite,
>> but worms are truly disgusting.
>
> At least you can see most worms, though I've read that candling won't
> show those in dark flesh or very deep. The most common parasites are
> nematodes and other larva, and those are very common. I read a study on
> freezing, and even at 20 below zero, it took weeks, I think, to kill off
> all the nematodes so they weren't revived upon thawing. BLEAH.
>
> Susan
Fish makes good bait I guess

--
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In article <[email protected]>, "Cheri" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
> worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
> careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
> still kicking and squirming.
>
> I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
> couple days ago at the Austin location.
>
> What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
> ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
> like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>
> Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
> that matter) for sashimi."

While I can see that flesh would be appealing and serve as a source of nutrition
to the parasites, haven't they involved in an aqueous environment? don't they
need all that water (and blood) to sustain them?

"Susan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> On 4/19/2011 2:31 PM, Cheri wrote:
>> "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
>> worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
>> careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
>> still kicking and squirming.
>>
>> I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
>> couple days ago at the Austin location.
>>
>> What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
>> ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
>> like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>>
>> Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
>> that matter) for sashimi."
>>
>>
>>
>
> It's not just Costco and it's not just halibut; bottom feeders, cod, lots
> of fish have worms. Holding them up to bright light lets you see them and
> pick them out.
>
> Susan

I know. :-)

Cheri

Susan wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> \
> On 4/19/2011 5:41 PM, Evelyn wrote:
>
>> I have seen those worms in cod. Dead at the time, but unmistakeable
>> what they were. UGH! I do love fish and Halibut is my favorite,
>> but worms are truly disgusting.
>
> At least you can see most worms, though I've read that candling won't
> show those in dark flesh or very deep. The most common parasites are
> nematodes and other larva, and those are very common. I read a study
> on freezing, and even at 20 below zero, it took weeks, I think, to
> kill off all the nematodes so they weren't revived upon thawing. BLEAH.
> Susan

The moral of the story is DO NOT EAT RAW FISH! <G>

x-no-archive: yes

On 4/20/2011 1:00 PM, Janet wrote:

> The moral of the story is DO NOT EAT RAW FISH!<G>
>
>

What about all the sushi and sashimi I used to eat??

Cooking to 140 internal temp suppposedly kills all the buggers.

Susan

On Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:50:25 -0400, Susan wrote:

> x-no-archive: yes
>
> \
> On 4/19/2011 5:41 PM, Evelyn wrote:
>
>> I have seen those worms in cod. Dead at the time, but unmistakeable
>> what they were. UGH! I do love fish and Halibut is my favorite,
>> but worms are truly disgusting.
>

> At least you can see most worms, though I've read that candling won't
> show those in dark flesh or very deep. The most common parasites are
> nematodes and other larva, and those are very common. I read a study on
> freezing, and even at 20 below zero, it took weeks, I think, to kill off
> all the nematodes so they weren't revived upon thawing. BLEAH.
>
> Susan

Could it be anisakis? I found this, using the Norwegian name for it,
"kveis":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisakis

"Kveis" usually lives in the intestines of the fish, so if the fish is
quickly cleaned when caught there is very litte risk of worms in the
flesh.
However - sometimes the killed fish is simply put on ice, which does not
kill the worms. We do eat raw fish, but it is ALWAYS frozen first. After
thawing, any worms are just so much protein and no more alive than the
fish :-)

On Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:07:05 -0700, Malcom \"Mal\" Reynolds wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>, "Cheri"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
>> worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
>> careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
>> still kicking and squirming.
>>
>> I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
>> couple days ago at the Austin location.
>>
>> What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
>> ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
>> like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>>
>> Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
>> that matter) for sashimi."
>
> While I can see that flesh would be appealing and serve as a source of
> nutrition to the parasites, haven't they involved in an aqueous
> environment? don't they need all that water (and blood) to sustain them?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisakis

Susan wrote:
<snip>

> What about all the sushi and sashimi I used to eat??

To eat his own. Not me. But then I did have the job in the fish factory,
plucking the worms out...

> Cooking to 140 internal temp suppposedly kills all the buggers.
>
> Susan

Yeah, although I don't want to see them, I feel perfectly safe eating cooked
fish. But for years after I worked in the factory, I would discreetly flake
any cod or similar fish that was served to me.

x-no-archive: yes

On 4/20/2011 2:31 PM, Bjørn Steensrud wrote:

> Could it be anisakis? I found this, using the Norwegian name for it,
> "kveis":
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisakis

They say that's the commonest one.
Susan

x-no-archive: yes

On 4/20/2011 3:44 PM, Janet wrote:

> Yeah, although I don't want to see them, I feel perfectly safe eating cooked
> fish. But for years after I worked in the factory, I would discreetly flake
> any cod or similar fish that was served to me.
>
>

You can bet I do, too, from now on.

Susan

i took my food sanitation certification for the state of IL and chicago
proper in 1990 at that time they showed a movie of how to candle the fish,
and in that same movie a clip of fish cooking and the worms leaving the
fish... one of those things its just fine i couldn't see, caused a few in
the class to become ill in class watching...

Lee
"W. Baker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ioks9j$ao3$[email protected]..
> Cheri <[email protected]> wrote:
> : "CostCo doesn't always have fresh halibut, but when it does, there are
> : worms in the flesh (meat, no skin). Most of them were dead, but after
> : careful poking and prodding a few packages, I did find one that was
> : still kicking and squirming.
>
> : I first noticed this in 1999 at the Santa Cruz CostCo. And again a
> : couple days ago at the Austin location.
>
> : What kind of parasites would these be (about .66cm and white)? Dead
> : ones have a darker, transparent hull and are flat, but live ones look
> : like very thin moving rice, less than 1mm wide fully extended).
>
> : Needless to say, do not use the halibut at CostCo (or any halibut for
> : that matter) for sashimi."
> lately there has been much discussion aobut worms in fish, dead or alice.
> they are found, for expmple, in sardines in cans that stil have the spine
> and skin , while the process of skinning and boning seems to clear out the
> worms. Other fish( I don't remember all of them) seem to have this
> problem. apparantly, it has been going on all the time, but ust ,
> somehow, not noticed. I don't think it is specific to Costso.
>
> Wendy
>
>