Anisakis, a nematode parasite present in the most saltwater fish As far as we know, it is one of the main problems affecting most of the world’s fisheries.
This parasite is responsible for anisakiasis, an infection that can cause anaphylactic reactions potentially fatal, and can be contracted by eating contaminated fish.
For this reason, it is mandatory to comply with the regulations that require freeze in catering all those fish that are going to be served raw or semi-raw, as is the case with anchovies in vinegar.
we should also freeze at home all the fish that we intend to consume raw, such as sushi, tartare or ceviches. At least of all those fish that come from salt water, since freshwater fish are exempt from anisakis.
In addition, it is especially important that we look at certain very common fish from the Spanish coasts and fishmongers that usually have the largest amount of anisakis. Although various studies support the presence of between 25% and 80% of the world’s fish with this parasite, the truth is that there are species that border on all.
In fact, in our country there are several species that usually present anisakis, whose thin and long larvae They are usually found in the stomach cavities or, on less occasions, in the animal’s own meat.
The question is that eating fish with anisakis, if it is cooked for more than one minute at 60º for all its parts, it is completely safe. For this reason, techniques such as roasting or frying eliminate their presence. Also if we freeze the fish —at least five days at -20º, as recommended by AESAN, in a freezer with at least three stars—, the parasite also dies.
That does not mean that it is unpleasant when we buy it fresh to be able to find these larvae, which in our country are more abundant in the Cantabrian fishing grounds and less in those of the Mediterranean and, above all in certain species, as explained by this 2019 study, led by several universities in Spain and Latin America.
In this circumstance, after analyzing nine different and very common species, taking 1,786 fish as a sample, they discovered that there are much more parasitized species than others. In addition, it is always observed presence in the viscera that in the meat
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In this sense, the higher prevalence of anisakis appears in horse mackerel (66% of the pieces were infected), followed by silver hake (59.5%), mackerel (58.4%), blue whiting (53.9%) and European hake (45%). %), which are the top five fish with the most anisakis according to this research.
Images | iStock pixinoo / iStock VITALII BORKOVSKYI
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