Wrong to Blame Costco for Fishy Parasite

In the news today the CDC is warning about the presence of parasites in food. In a recent post on Facebook, someone singled out Costco for "allowing" a parasitic worm to exist in fresh fish. It isn't wrong to have posted the comments or the video above, but it is wrong to make it sound like a unique Costco-only experience. Costco has been bashed and bullied all over the internet for allowing such a perversion of fresh food to occur. In fact, if anything, the parasite proved the fish was so fresh that the worm hadn't had time to die a natural death from dehydration, or excessive storage time.

Parasites can be killed with cooking

Here's the thing. It's NOT Costco's fault. Parasites are everywhere, in every type of food, in every corner of the planet. The existence of parasites is a primary reason we cook food before we eat it. The heat of cooking kills the parasite. You don't know it, but in your lifetime you've eaten millions of cooked parasites, and you liked eating them. You didn't notice because they probably tasted like chicken.

If food is fresh, and uncooked, the pesky worm-like rascals will remain alive and well, until the part about being uncooked changes. Fresh fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit.....ALL have the potential for harboring parasites. Parasites are, potentially, in ALL fresh food, EVERYWHERE in the world.

The confusion comes from the perception of some people that the world is perfect, and so shouldn't have parasites. This misconception extends beyond the common citizen all the way to the nation's congressional leaders. The ignorance about food safety, shared by so many individuals, is the cause for ALL panic over parasites. Just a little knowledge can go a long way toward relieving parasite-panic.These are the people who can benefit, immediately, from food safety training :

• Food Industry professionals can't function properly without food safety knowledge.
• Teachers, especially for basic science, and most especially culinary skills must have a thorough knowledge of food safety.
• School students should not graduate without thorough Food Safety Training. 
• Babysitters, dietitians, care givers, all need Food Safety Training. 
• A congressman should not be able to create legislation about food safety without first being trained about it. 

By the way, that training is available for everyone, here at www.FoodSafetyTrainingCenter.com.

So, the next time you spot a squrmy, wormy life form in a package of fresh fish, or any fresh food, just remind yourself that cooking will make it go away. Problem solved.

Thank you,

Andy Bozeman

Learn more about Food Safety.
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