I've been known to try it airport sushi when the mood strikes you. But I have a high risk tolerance, so I reached out to doctors, airports, and a food writer to get their opinions.
Ali A. Khan, gastroenterologist with Gastro Health in Fairfax, Virginia, said eating sushi is a risky option, not just at the airport, but anywhere you eat it. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refers to raw fish dishes, including sushi and ceviche, as “riskier choice”, as well as other delicious foods like alfalfa sprouts, eggnog and unpasteurized cheese.
Khan said you could increase the chances of food poisoning at the airport where “there's a lot more potential and margin for error when it comes to storage and handling,” which is why he usually keeps sushi for other occasions.
The food writer had a similar concern. For the spokesperson's perspective, I sent your question to my fellow James Beard Award winner Tim Carman. It turns out he has some reservations about eating raw fish at the airport, opting for burgers, sandwiches or salads instead of sashimi.
“I just know how most airport restaurants work,” he told me in conversation. “They are usually not managed by the restaurants themselves, but by a third-party concessionaire. I don't want to put myself in the hands of a third party dealer when it comes to sushi.
Airport officials (predictably) disagree with these criticisms.
A spokesperson for Denver International – which is home to two restaurants serving sushi – said their concessionaires are required to follow all state and local food handling regulations and are governed by the same public health agencies as a restaurant outside the airport.
“These agencies require all dealers to meet the highest level of food safety and quality standards,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
Jonathan O. Dean, a spokesman for Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, directed me to the Gachi House of Sushi restaurant. Yelp pagewhere travelers gave the airport sushi restaurant good reviews.
It's so popular, in fact, that “it's a regular sight, with pilots and airline crews exiting their planes and heading straight for Gachi,” Dean told me via email. Plus, they're so popular that they've expanded to Philadelphia and Boston airports.
Even with food safety standards, eating raw fish carries risks. Cooking meat kills harmful microbes that may have contaminated seafood, said Dave Love, a research professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future who has studied fisheries and food system issues related to seafood. industry.
Mark Gendreau, a physician and chief medical officer at Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals in Massachusetts, agrees. Many organisms can contaminate raw fish, and several can cause symptoms fairly quickly, such as: You might be hit with severe nausea and vomiting followed by diarrhea during your flight.
There are several ways to reduce some risks by eating sushi more safely, according to a New Jersey dietitian. Erin Palinski Wade said. It's like using good judgment when deciding where and what to eat. Ordering one from a popular, reputable restaurant is a safer bet than a pre-made platter that may have been kept at an inappropriate temperature for an extended period of time. If you're opting for a takeout container, check out the fish. Is it bright and appetizing? Or is it discolored? Dried? Unpleasantly aromatic?
Likewise, Neil Slabbert, regional chief medical officer for Asia Pacific, for the travel risk management company Global Travel Protection, said airport diners should ask a few questions before diving in: Can you tell how long the sushi has been sitting out? Is there a food safety rating displayed prominently? If you can see the food preparation area, does it look clean?
Love also said you should eat your sushi as soon as possible; don't let it sit for hours before your flight. “Like all seafood, it must be eaten or refrigerated,” he said.
Unfortunately, such review is not perfect. Khan said it can be “basically impossible” to tell whether sushi is contaminated or not.
“It may smell bad or have a fishy odor, and that can be an indicator that it’s not the freshest,” he said. “But just because it doesn’t smell bad doesn’t mean it’s not contaminated.”
If you get sick, “healthy people tend to get better after a few days,” Khan said. You should drink plenty of fluids – water, sports drinks, broth – and try to stay hydrated. If your symptoms do not improve, consult a doctor.
If such risks dissuade you from eating raw fish, you can opt for vegetarian sushi or sushi made from cooked seafood instead; The shrimp tempura rolls are Khan's favorite.
Or, you can just accept the risks and pass on the wasabi.
“That’s life – everything is dangerous,” Khan said.
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