A Costco shopper is calling out the store after claiming to have found parasites in their salmon.
In a clip with over 625,000 views as of Friday, TIkTok user Sav (@saviibaaby) says she had seen TikToks about people finding parasites in their salmon. Knowing she had some Costco salmon in the freezer, she took it out to investigate before making a meal.
Much to her dismay, she says she also found parasites in her salmon.
“I found, not one, not two—an entire glob of parasites in my salmon,” she declares.
She then shows the parasites in question, which appear to be present in both pieces of salmon.
“So, if Costco would like to let me know why there’s parasites in my salmon,” she says. She later adds, “[I’m] also wondering why they still have it on the market. And I don’t know if it’s just wild caught, maybe, or like farm-raised. I don’t even know. But I’m sick. I don’t even want dinner now.”
Are salmon parasites common?
While Sav questions why Costco is selling salmon with parasites, it may be because it’s difficult to find salmon without parasites.
As noted by CBC, “Data cited by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control suggests 75 per cent of wild Pacific salmon are infected with [anisakid nematodes],” a common parasite.
This may be why this topic has gone viral so many times. Last year, one user went viral after claiming her Costco salmon had “worms.” Another alleged that she found similar parasites in salmon from Whole Foods.
However, these parasites are perfectly safe to eat, so long as the salmon has been cooked thoroughly. Even when eaten raw, it can be safe to eat salmon with parasites so long as the fish has been properly frozen.
“If fish is to be consumed uncooked, killing the parasites requires it to be frozen at -20 C for at least a week…Most commercial sushi-grade seafood suppliers freeze at -40 C,” notes the CBC piece.
Viewers aren’t surprised
While this may have disgusted users in the past, the ubiquity of videos like these has, in part, better informed viewers about just how common salmon parasites can be. As a result, many commenters were not shocked by the presence of parasites in this salmon.
“Most fish have worms, they do their best to remove them,” a user noted.
“Alaska girl here, I’d still eat it. That’s why we freeze it and cook it. I wouldn’t touch farmed salmon,” added another.
“Only way to avoid this unfortunately is to not eat fish. I had to stop eating salmon bc it freaked me out too much,” offered a third.
“I worked with seafood for 10 years. All fish have them,” declared a further TikToker.
The Daily Dot reached out to Costco via its media relations request form and Sav via Instagram direct message.
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