Both Haraguchi and Herron point out that, in certain cultures, fish has long been served raw despite never having been frozen at all, and neither was bothered by the idea of eating fish under those circumstances (though they stress that the fish they sell for raw consumption has been frozen according to FDA guidelines). Of parasites, Haraguchi says, “It’s natural. Parasites are as natural as seeing a ladybug in farmers market vegetables.” When I tell Herron that I myself have purchased fluke at The Lobster Place, butchered it, and eaten it raw at home, he says, “I’ve done the same thing. I’m fine, you’re fine. And everybody was doing that before these regulations came out, and everyone was okay.”
Temperature Abuse and Bacterial Contamination: The Real Danger
Haraguchi and Herron agree that parasites in raw fish are less of a concern than bacterial contamination. “At the end of the day, we can freeze this product—so we’ve gotten rid of the worms—but you could temp-abuse it at home, we could temp-abuse it here, there’s a million different things that can impact the bacterial count on that fish,” Herron says.
