News: Media Kits: Living Well Week
News Article
March 12, 2006
Raw favorites need to be handled with care
Writer/source: Elizabeth Andress (eandress@uga.edu) 706/542- 3773
As certain Japanese foods gain popularity, the words used to describe them can get confusing. Take sushi and sashimi, for example.
"Sashimi differs from sushi by not being served on a rice bed or in a rice roll," said Elizabeth Andress, a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension food safety specialist.
Both consist of raw fish or seafood.
When it comes to working with and eating raw fish, preventing bacterial growth is imperative, whether it's by proper handling of seafood or careful washing of utensils.
During preparation of sushi and sashimi, precautions need to be taken to help prevent foodborne illnesses, Andress said. Personal hygiene is important, since these foods will not have a heating step to kill microorganisms. Hands should be properly washed before and after handling raw fish. Sushi and sashimi, as with all raw fish and meat, should be prepared on separate cutting boards from produce or cooked and ready-to-eat foods. All work surfaces, equipment and utensils need to be cleaned and sanitized after each task.
"When you are selecting fish in the grocery store to make your own sushi or sashimi, make sure you purchase only 'sushi-grade' or 'sashimi-grade' fish," she said. "This means the fish has been frozen at low enough temperatures and for a long enough period of time to kill parasites that might be present."
Fish and seafood can carry harmful parasites that cause foodborne illness. To destroy parasites found in fish, the FDA food code states that before service or sale of most ready-to-eat raw fish, it should be "frozen and stored at a temperature of -4°F or below for seven days in a freezer or frozen at -31°F or below until solid and stored at -31°F for 15 hours."
Only eat raw fish that has been properly frozen and held at the proper temperatures listed above. These temperatures are not possible to achieve with most home freezers.
The food code also requires that ready-to-eat raw fish be kept separate from cooked ready-to-eat foods during storage, preparation, holding and displaying and this advice should be applied at home as well.
"Sushi has been enjoyed for many centuries and with caution it can still be enjoyed," she said.
Sushi dates back to the seventh century when packing and pickling fish with rice was first introduced by southeast Asians. Vinegar was later added to expedite the fermentation process, creating what we know today as sushi.
"Sushi rice, made using vinegar, not only provides taste," Andress said. "Its acidic properties help keep bacteria from growing."
Sushi is a combination of sushi rice (rice with a sweet vinegar mixture) and raw fish. There are several forms of sushi: nigiri-sushi, the most common, is hand-shaped into an oval; oshi-sushi is pressed; maki sushi is rolled; gunkan-style sushi is rolled and wrapped in seaweed and chirashi sushi is scattered in a bowl. Sushi can be made with many types of seafood including tuna, boiled or raw shrimp, eel, squid and salmon.
Sashimi is simply thinly sliced raw seafood and is usually dipped in soy sauce when eaten. Traditionally it is cut into a rectangular shape, called hira zukuri; or slightly thinner, ito zukuri; and paper thin, kaku zukuri. Sashimi can be made using tuna, prawn, mackerel, squid or octopus.
(Elizabeth Andress is a UGA Cooperative Extension food safety specialist with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.)