Fish and Shellfish
Another common source of food poisoning is fish. Fish that haven’t been stored at the right temperature, for instance, could make you ill. This occurs when the fish you’re about to consume contains a toxin (histamine) produced by bacteria found in it.
Normal cooking temperatures can’t destroy histamine, resulting in scombroid poisoning, which is basically a type of food poisoning. Scombroid poisoning comes with a lot of symptoms, including wheezing, swelling of the tongue and face, and nausea.
Contaminated fish can also cause ciguatera fish poisoning. This type of food poisoning happens due to ciguatoxin, a toxin found in tropical waters. According to stats, as many as 50,000 individuals who live in tropical areas get ciguatera fish poisoning every single year.
The worst part? Normal cooking temperatures can’t destroy this toxin.
On the other side, shellfish can be as harmful as fish when it comes to food poisoning. Still, store-bought shellfish are safe to eat. So, it would be best to consume store-bought shellfish from now on. Plus, you should make sure that fish is cooked through and mussels, oysters, and clams until their shells open.
P.S.: If the shells of some oysters won’t open, throw them.
2 Responses
I worked for a local butcher while growing up. every day we had to scrub down everything. the worst part was the inside of the meat counters. they were the old styles and we had to bend over backward to reach the glass and front or customer side of the cooler. the meet was wrapped and loaded into the walk-in cooler at the end of the workday. The worst part is we used full-strength vinegar. it sure cleared your sinuses. the butcher block was also cleaned with vinegar with salt added. all the machinery that had cutting blades were also cleaned the knives sat in a dish of vinegar until used the next day. This man had only a small store but had loyal customers that came in twice a week for fresh meat, chickens, and eggs. turkeys were always ordered ahead of time. I sometimes wonder if the counters were cleaned at the supermarkets. they count on packaging to keep everything from contamination.. Ed the butcher would always rinse his hands with vinegar when he picked up the meat. In all the years the shop was around I never heard of anyone getting food poisoning from his meat. In a neighborhood where we all knew each other, it would have spread quickly if true. We don’t need all the fancy cleaning supplies that cost so much and may contain chemicals that are bad for you, or your kids. Methods learned when we didn’t have refrigeration to keep us safe are no longer passed down. When a real crisis comes we had better know how to eat safely and keep ourselves clean or die. We are now three generations away from such knowledge. best find out.——— I, Grampa
Thank you for this information. Very helpful. God bless.