--- title: California Sushi Lover Took a 5-Foot Tapeworm From His Body description: A California man with a daily sushi habit pulled a 5-foot tapeworm from his body after eating raw salmon. canonical: https://time.com/5110153/sushi-lover-five-foot-tapeworm/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-19T20:23:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T22:45:52.000Z article:section: Health og:title: A Sushi Lover Pulled a 5-Foot Tapeworm Out of His Body og:description: His daily sushi habit was likely to blame og:url: https://time.com/5110153/sushi-lover-five-foot-tapeworm/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ab51f181b885fb/6988f8d7096a9467a56a12c0/salmon-sashimi.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3865 og:image:height: 2174 og:image:alt: Salmon sashimi - Japanese food og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Sushi Lover Pulled a 5-Foot Tapeworm Out of His Body twitter:description: His daily sushi habit was likely to blame twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ab51f181b885fb/6988f8d7096a9467a56a12c0/salmon-sashimi.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Sushi Lover Pulled a 5-Foot Tapeworm Out of His Body > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Eat Sushi? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Sushi?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cmhCuNmR.m3u8) (1:38)  _Published 2015-06-25. You now have the blessing of five health experts to eat sushi, but know this before ordering._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 10:45 PM UTCPublished: Jan 19, 2018 8:23 PM UTC  Salmon sashimi is famous Japanese food for Thai people, especially in Bangkok Salmon sashimi is famous Japanese food for Thai people, especially in Bangkok Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 10:45 PM UTCPublished: Jan 19, 2018 8:23 PM UTC A daily sushi habit caught up with a California man in a big way, according to one doctor’s story on the medical podcast [_This Won’t Hurt a Bit_](http://www.wonthurtabit.com/episodes/6-parasites)_._ A patient at Fresno’s Community Regional Medical Center recently came to Dr. Kenny Banh, an emergency medicine doctor, complaining of bloody diarrhea and asking to be treated for tapeworms, Banh recalled on the latest episode of the podcast. Banh said he was skeptical of the man’s self-diagnosis — until he produced some startling evidence. “Next to him, he’s got this little grocery bag,” Banh recounted on the podcast. “I open it up, and I take out a toilet paper roll, just that little brown center piece. Wrapped around it is, of course, this giant, long — what looks like a flat tapeworm, just sitting in there. I was like, ‘That came out of your bottom?’ He was like, ‘Yes, that came out of my bottom.'” Banh continued examining the patient and learned that the man had been experiencing cramping, abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Then, while on the toilet, he looked down and saw what he thought was a piece of intestine dangling from his body, Banh said. “He is scared to death that he’s got something terrible,” Banh said. “He’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, my guts are coming out from me.'” But when the patient began pulling out what looked like intestine, it started to move. It dawned on the man that he actually had a giant worm. He continued to pull, and eventually wrapped the entire parasite around the toilet paper roll. When Banh laid it out on the floor of the emergency department, he said, it measured five feet, six inches long. Banh treated the patient with deworming medication and quizzed him about lifestyle or travel habits that could have led to the diagnosis. Eventually, the patient mentioned his near-daily salmon sashimi habit, which Banh said was likely to blame for the monster worm — especially given that a [study released by the CDC](https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/23/2/16-1026%5Farticle) last winter warns about tapeworm larvae found in North American salmon. [Per FDA regulations](https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM252393.pdf), raw fish must be flash-frozen before consumption to kill off parasites, including tapeworms. But when fish isn’t frozen for long enough, or if it doesn’t reach low enough temperatures, some parasites can survive and find their way into people’s bodies, Banh explained. If you want to be on the safe side, you can always eat your salmon cooked. ” Cooked salmon is not a problem,” he said, “if it’s properly cooked.”  Photo courtesy of Dr. Kenny Banh/This Won't Hurt a Bit ## Transcript You now have the blessing of five health experts to keep eating sushi, but know this before ordering. Sushi is a nice and healthy meal if you make the right choices, says Sunniva Hoel. Fish come with a lot of health benefits, but it's the rice that's the problem. Eating sashimi Slices of raw fish is the best way to order she says . >> The raw fish can transmit infectious diseases . >> Points out David Katz. So make sure to choose a well run establishment. You should be even more careful with store bought sushi. It has a longer shelf life, which gives bacteria more of an opportunity to grow. A study by Hollin colleagues revealed that almost half of the supermarket sushi they sampled had unsatisfactory levels of bacteria. Stay away from rolls that are deep fried and smothered with mayo suggests Kristin Kirkpatrick. Instead, focus on lean sources of fresh fatty fish. Get plenty of sea vegetables and wrap it in brown rice. Or no rice at all. If you do that, then a portion control thumbs up to you, she says. Though mercury is still a concern with sushi, Roxanne Karimi says that small bodied fish lower on the food chain have less of it. Those fish are sometimes the best ones to pick for sustainability, too, says Tim Fitzgerald. Though the most popular items, like tuna, salmon, and shrimp, often aren't farmed sustainably. Scallops, clams, oysters and roe, are solid alternatives. You don't have to give up sushi, Fitzgerald says. It's still good for you. 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