freaking out - worms in cod but I still ate it!
Now I know there was already a thread on this last week, but it didn't exactly answer the question that I have. Last night I made cod for dinner and when I was removing the fillet from the pan, remembering the thread on worms in fish, I decided to check through the fish. And I found a small red worm! Ugh, it was so disgusting and I dry heaved but I pulled it out and threw it away and then popped the fish back in the pan for a few more minutes to really cook it. And then I ate it....
My question is - am I in danger? I didn't find any other worms but I'm really freaking out that I'm going to get a tapeworm or some other vile condition, even though I definitely cooked the fish through and through. Does anyone have any sage advice?
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10 Comments:
Write a will.
simon at 6:22PM on 08/03/09
I was the one who warned of worms in cod during warm weather. If you didn't get sick after about an hour after consumption, I wouldn'd worry, the heat of cooking killed anything that was alive. Inspect your next purchase carefully before cooking or before purchasing if possible.
dmcavanagh at 6:23PM on 08/03/09
if you cooked it through you should be fine!
hmw0029 at 6:32PM on 08/03/09
@simon - despite the frantic tone of my post, I think I'll live through this, lol.
@dmcavanagh - a big thank you. I figured it would be fine since I cooked the fish but I had never even heard of worms in fish (besides sword fish) before that post last week and it was just so nauseating to then see the worm. I just needed a few words of wisdom from people who had more experience with this than I have.
laurelie at 6:36PM on 08/03/09
You are a braver person than I, @laurele. I'd have to be really, really hungry to eat food from which I'd fished a worm. The backyard of my rental house has an apple tree and I won't go near those apples because they have holes that I think were made by worms. I'm scared to death of cutting into the fruit and finding a worm.
I've got the creeping meemies just thinking about it.
RegrettableFoodie at 8:32PM on 08/03/09
sadly to say, i'm really turned off to fish now. maybe during the dead of winter -- some really deep cold water something.... but now, no way.
apples -- now if i see a worm in an apple, i'm not bothered.... it means that it's not sprayed ..... you can always cut that piece out....
pooch at 9:50PM on 08/03/09
Again, as others have said, unless you had an immediate reaction you'll be fine.
Humans aren't the desired host of most fish worms, so they may cause you some temporary discomfort at worst and then, it'll, ahem, pass.
(But as mentioned before, there are some more vigorous bugs out there, too.)
Cybele May at 10:34PM on 08/03/09
I study fish parasites, and I can guarantee you that you will be fine as long as you've cooked the fish thoroughly. Also, many parasites are species-specific. In other words, they'll infect only a certain type of animal. So most parasites you'll encounter won't be detrimental to you. If you fear worms in your meat, I highly, highly, highly recommend that you never look too closely at your meat, especially if it's wild, in the future. Parasites are EVERYWHERE. People don't realize this because they don't look. Finally, if you're infected, you often will not experience an immediate reaction. You can be parasitized for decades and not present any symptoms.
puravidalaurat at 4:52AM on 08/04/09
Eat and enjoy.... I would make the argument that your body is not a temple, but rather an amusement park. If people don't want to risk eating little creepy crawlies, there won't be much left to eat. So relax and enjoy your food... Just don't look too closely, you may be surprised with what you see!
Pavlov at 7:49AM on 08/04/09
phew! thanks everybody for calming me down. I guess if I decided I never wanted to find a worm or anything gross again I'd have to give up all the food I love (which is not gonna happen).
laurelie at 9:47AM on 08/04/09