Sushi Trend (fka SUSZ)

[RIGATONI]

hang tough with this stock, I believe it will be a winner down the road...


http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-p2sushi044917659oct04,0,1311815.story?coll=ny-health-print



Health/ScienceFishing for safe sushi
BY ERICA MARCUS
Newsday Staff Writer

October 4, 2006


It's lunchtime at Deli Worx in Melville, and office workers in the mood for a club sandwich or meatball hero are finding something else on the takeout menu: sushi. Raw fish, it seems, is the new wave at all sorts of Long Island food outlets, from delis and malls to supermarkets and steak houses.

Yet the new ubiquity of sushi raises a major safety concern: Is the fish fresh?

Eating sushi has always required a sense of trust between chef and customer, but the traditional sushi bar provides a considerable level of security: the raw fish is on display, as is the sushi chef's skill in handling it. Elsewhere, the consumer may have no clues to the sushi's origin or quality apart from its appearance.

Some non-traditional sushi outlets are taking steps to reassure customers. At Deli Worx, owners Maurice Guidi and James Spinnato make no secret of the provenance of the maki rolls they have just started selling: They are made at Blue Ocean, an Asian restaurant in Bethpage. "We get it fresh every morning by 11 o'clock," said Guidi, who added that the rolls, usually priced about $6 to $7 (which includes a salad), sell out pretty quickly.

More often than not, however, consumers have to rely on their own powers of sushi observation. And there's little help from the Food and Drug Administration.

"It's always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of food-borne illness," reads a statement on the FDA Web site. "If you choose to eat raw fish anyway, one rule of thumb is to eat fish that has been previously frozen," a process that kills any parasites.

In fact, most fish for sushi is previously frozen and then defrosted, said Stacey Viera, a spokeswoman for the National Fisheries Institute, a trade organization for the seafood industry, but that doesn't mean the fish has been handled properly after it was defrosted.

Viera advised wary consumers to look at the fish's color. "The brighter the flesh, the fresher it is," she said. "You want tuna that looks really red, salmon that looks really orange, fluke that looks really white."

Another clue is the fish's apparent texture. "It should look firm and moist, and the flesh should not be separating - that is a dead giveaway that it is getting old," she said.

Viera also said to use your nose. "Fresh fish smells faintly like the ocean, with no 'fishy' smell." A reputable establishment, she said, "should not object if you "pop open the package and take a whiff."

Finally, "don't be afraid to ask questions: When was this made? Where was this made?" If they don't answer, she said, "go find another sushi place."