Is Ceviche safe (to eat)?

ralph124c · June 21, 2006, 6:57pm

Seviche (lime-juice marinated fish) has gotten very popular. I have tasted it, but i worry about all the viruses and bacteria that lurk in raw seafood. The lime juice marinande-is it acidic enough to kill the bacteria? Also, raw shellfish can be contaminated with the virus that causes hepatitis-is this virus killed by the lime juice?
So, what is the concensus-can you eat seviche and not worry about getting sick? :eek:

drachillix · June 21, 2006, 7:05pm

If it made many people sick it probably would not be very popular.

In general look at the establishment you are ordering it from. IF it looks like a dive, be a lil more wary. Think of it like sushi bars, fish in itself is not really dangerous, its the freshness and proper handling that makes raw or cold cooked fished a danger.

vetbridge · June 21, 2006, 7:50pm

You will find thjis on most menus as a way of the restauranteur doing a CYA. Personally, I have eaten pounds of sushi in places I trust and have never had a problem.

On the other hand, the restaurant chain ChiChis went out of business after patrons contracted hepatitis from eating green onions.

Left_Hand_of_Dorkness · June 21, 2006, 8:03pm

From the United Nations:

Cholera affects only humans and the main source of the bacteria during epidemics are the faeces of acutely infected people. However, the bacteria persists in the environment and is often found attached to plankton (Chiavelli et al., 2001). V. cholerae non-O1 and non-O139 are as the other Vibrio species, ubiquitous in marine and estuarine waters. Some non-O1 and non-O139 may be pathogenic to man, causing mainly gastroenteritis, but they are not associated with the epidemic diseases. Water contaminated with sewage is the main cause of spread of cholerae but also seafood products being contaminated with cholera-containing waters have been the cause of disease. The largest recent out-break of cholera, the pandemic South American outbreak in the early 1990s was partially caused by ceviche, a raw, marinated fish product, for which contaminated water or fish was used in the preparation. This was a O1-outbreak and caused more than 400 000 cases

Moral: don’t eat poopy ceviche.
Daniel

Patty_O_Furniture · June 21, 2006, 8:33pm

There is a popular asian dish that uses lemon or lime juice to “cook” thinly sliced raw beef. You can actually see the beef turning color from red to brownish-gray as though it was being cooked in a microwave. When I eat it, the meat has a “mouth feel” as though it’s been cooked. Is the meat actually getting a chemical burn of sorts?

Colibri · June 21, 2006, 8:41pm

I eat ceviche here all the time, and so do all my friends. It is extremely popular, and is even sold at baseball games. I have never heard of anyone getting sick from it here.

While ceviche can *conceivably * cause problems in certain circumstances, if you get it from a decent place this shouldn’t be the case.

If you are in the US I wouldn’t worry about it.

Acsenray · June 21, 2006, 8:56pm

I think it’s not CYA. I believe local government health regulations require the warning.

nitpick: There’s no n in restaurateur.

Ike_Witt · June 21, 2006, 9:17pm

While it does suck that people got hepatitis, the lose of ChiChis is one that the world of gastronomy can weather.

Left_Hand_of_Dorkness · June 21, 2006, 9:30pm

True, but there is in restauranteur.

Daniel

DiggitCamara · June 21, 2006, 9:54pm

Bandname!

Qadgop_the_Mercotan · June 21, 2006, 10:44pm

Dave Barry told me to tell you to cut that out.

outlierrn · June 21, 2006, 11:06pm

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
ceviche!

Tabula_Rasa · June 21, 2006, 11:47pm

Can you see or smell the ocean from the restaurant? If so, then eat the ceviche.

Tabby