Fish Poisoning: What You Need to Know to Stay Safe
After all, it’s the most common fish-related illness in the world.
Scombroid poisoning? What’s that? How does it occur? You may be asking yourself a lot of questions right now about this and that. We’ll try to address those questions in this article.
01. What is scombroid poisoning?
This is caused by eating fish from the Scombridae family, which have high histamine levels.
02. Is this an allergic reaction?
No, it is considered a poisoning rather than an allergy.
This can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of his or her history of eating that specific fish.
03. What are the most commonly consumed fish types associated with scombroid poisoning?
The main fish types are tuna, mackerel, skipjack, bonito, while bluefish, marlin, and escolar are some fish types that may cause scombroid poisoning.
04.Why do fish in the Scombridae family have high histamine levels?
In their muscle tissue, these fish have an amino acid called histidine, as well as a gram (-) bacteria type that stimulates the breakdown of histidine into histamine.
05. Is histamine present in all fish?
Typically, yes.
However, if the histamine level in fish is less than 0.1mg per 100g of fish, it is considered safe to consume and has no health implications.
However, when this histamine level exceeds, it is associated with histamine poisoning, or we call it, scombroid poisoning.
06. What are the symptoms?
Burning sensations
Facial flushing
Sweating
Nausea
Vomiting
Headache
Dizziness
Rashes
07. When do the symptoms appear?
Symptoms could appear from a few minutes to a few hours, and last.
08. What should you do when the symptoms appear?
Symptoms usually subside within 24 hours.
However, for some people, they can last for a few days and worsen over time. If those symptoms do not subside within 24 hours, see a doctor.
If you are unsure about the condition, it is perfectly fine to consult with a doctor before that. Most of the time, doctors will prescribe a rapid-acting-antihistamine and examine the patient closely.
09. Is it true that cooking destroys histamine in fish?
Certainly not.
Because of the temperature, only histidine and histamine-producing bacteria are inactivated when cooking.
Nothing happens to histamine that has already formed.
10. How can scombroid poisoning be avoided?
The only way out is to limit histamine intake.
That can only be achieved by limiting your consumption of fish with high histamine levels, as I mentioned in Question №3.
So, being aware and taking the necessary preventive measures can save you from being poisoned.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like this article about buying & cooking the fish rightly:
