‘She should have cooked/frozen it right away.’ S’poreans say they don’t blame FairPrice for worms in salmon

SINGAPORE: After a worm was discovered in a piece of salmon, FairPrice, where the fish was bought, issued an apology right away. An investigation into the issue will also be carried out by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), according to a report in Mothership.

The salmon was purchased by a woman at a discounted price at a FairPrice outlet in Bedok North on Aug 12 and cooked by her mother three days later.

The woman said that the worm she discovered while eating the salmon was about 6.5 cm long. Mothership, quoting The Straits Times, said that while she did not get diarrhoea after eating the fish, she had felt bloated.

On Aug 19, FairPrice apologised in a statement, saying that it was carrying out an internal investigation with the supplier, and that it takes food safety and quality seriously.

FairPrice has reached out to the woman and apologised for the inconvenience and alarm the incident caused her.

Many netizens commenting on the report, while sympathetic to the woman, said they don’t find fault with FairPrice, given that worms are quite commonly found in salmon, and when cooked or frozen properly, the risk of a person who consumes the salmon is minimised.

The percentage of wild Pacific salmon affected by worms can be as high as 75 per cent based on data cited by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, CBC reported some years ago. The worms are anisakid nematodes, which are sometimes called herring worms or cod worms.

There is little to no health risk to humans when the fish is properly prepared for consumption, said Michael Gänzle, Canada Research Chair in food microbiology and probiotics at the University of Alberta. Freezing the salmon for at least a week at -40 degrees Celsius will also kill the worms.

“Very common to get worms in salmon. The lady should have prepped her fish before cooking. I don’t blame FairPrice,” wrote one Facebook user.

“Can’t cook three days later lah. If same day buy not cooking must put in freeze,” commented another.

“Seafood, especially fish, is very susceptible to all sorts of parasites. Salmon is one of the highest to be infected. Just make sure all is cooked well,” one netizen opined.

“Who doesn’t know salmon has worms?” another chimed in. /TISG

Read also: Customer gets only bits of salmon skin in $5.80 salmon soup