Anisakis and Worms Found in Fish - Check Your Fish Before You Cook It (Video Included)

By Anilocra at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.)

[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In yesterday's post, we saw the bugs that can be found in couscous, and briefly touched upon what Rabbi Moshe Vaya had to say in his book "Bedikas HaMazon."

In today's post we look at another area that many are unaware of - checking fish for worms! It is fascinating that ultimately when one studies to become a rabbi today, the first and most important issue addressed is food! One has to learn the laws of Kashrut, of forbidden mixtures and the forbidden mixture of meat and milk etc. It is no wonder why this area is chosen as the most basic area to be competent in when becoming a rabbi - since it is the most frequent thing we come in touch with each day! It is vital that our entire diet is not just healthy in the general sense of things - but that we are extra special careful with every food product to make certain there are no bugs and insects in it.

It is true and clear that certain worms that are eaten can lead to great sickness - but this is of course only on the physical side of things. Just as they create problems physically, they create problems spiritually too. Though one may not understand how this happens, it is certainly true - as we clarified in yesterday's post.

Anisakis is one of the best known worms that inhabit certain fish. When one eats raw fish with the live worm - one stands a great chance of becoming severely sick! While the general world will cook fish and not have to worry about the dead worm posing as a problem in terms of sickness any longer - a Jew must be careful of even this. It makes no difference whether the worm is alive or dead - it will still create a problem for the person.

It is vital to check one's fish from the shop before cooking it. Even if it comes with a good Hechsher, it does not mean that is has been perfectly checked necessarily and it is not always the fault of the fish-store selling the fish - after all, it is the fish that has the worms and not the store that puts the worms onto it (or into it!) Nevertheless when one purchases a reliable Hechsher, one does expect that the fish has been cleaned well! As with all food products, no matter how good the cleaning process is - don't forget, it is your body! Be concerned about every food product and the possibility of eating any type of poison or of course bug!

Today we take a look at what these worms can look like. While they are tremendously small to the naked eye - just take a look at what they look like under a magnifying glass! The language of the video is Hebrew, but there's no need to understand everything being said. The video speaks for itself. 

While various Batei Dinim around the world may make one feel complacent that they are taking everything into account so that the customer can feel safe - don't forget, these videos that we have available today (and lacked so many years ago) are here to point out to every one of us just how easily food is infested and how careful we should be to check all food - before we eat it!

דגים חייבים בדיקה! - מגעיל לצפייה מזהירים מראש!צילם: אנונימי הצלם מתבקש לאמר לנו את שמו | דרך אביחי מזרחי
Posted by ‎סרטונים מעניינים‎ on Monday, 1 June 2015

The Bugs You'll Find in Couscous - and Other Food (Video Included)

               Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University / © Bugwood.org, via Wikimedia Commons

The Torah commands us not to eat the various insects and bugs that fly about and crawl around. Fruits and vegetables are often filled with these insects. It is imperative that one learn all the laws necessary regarding the various types of insects and bugs that infest fruits and vegetables and to know how to clean them effectively. Every fruit and vegetable (as well as grains and other food products) has a different way for cleaning and checking due to the abundance of insects and bugs around. While many use plain soap on everything, it is not always the answer. In fact, many insects have claws that dig into the fruits and vegetables. A general soak in soapy water may not suffice to pull the insect away from the fruit or vegetable and more effort may be needed.

Then there are the fruits such as oranges which contain a thick peel. Many think that simply removing the peel is sufficient without considering the (real) possibility of insects infesting the peel. If the insects and bugs are not removed, they often stick to the hands causing one to end up eating them when one begins to eat the fruit inside! Additionally when cutting the fruit the insect may slip off the peel and enter the fruit. They may be barely noticeable and one ends up eating these bugs. The Torah clearly prohibits this on a number of occasions, causing the one to eat from it to not only transgress a variety of transgressions, but to also end up bringing the bug into one's body. The Torah warns that this has an effect on the way we think, or to put things into perspective, the general saying "You are what you eat," is equally applicable.

The short video below gives an insight into the type of bugs you can find inside couscous. Indeed, while the couscous one eats may very well look clean, the bugs burrow themselves inside certain parts. These bugs are visible at the time one presses on the couscous (or bites into it!) and of course if one eats it, one will be eating not just a dead creature - but a living creature as well!

Rabbi Moshe Vaye - acknowledged world authority on the laws of cleaning food, says in his work "Bedikas HaMazon" that high quality couscous is presumed clean, but that anything less than that requires a good checking (which means literally sifting through every part of the couscous packet as one prepares to cook it.)

Enjoy the video - and may it assist in clarifying just one area in the necessity to check all one's fruits and vegetables - and in fact all the food one eats!

It is told that the reason G-d created the mouth underneath the eyes (and nose) is so that before one places food inside one's mouth, one has the opportunity to both see as well as smell the food. One can see it - in order to make sure there is no forbidden bug or insect (or anything forbidden) on it, and one can smell it to check that it is not off.

Here is a video of Rabbi Moshe Vaya (in Hebrew) sharing some important information about checking food for bugs.