Fish is better for you in so many ways, but is eating fish safer, too? Can you get food poisoning from eating fish just like eating meats and other tainted food?
Of course eating tainted food will make you sick, but food poisoning in fish works a little differently than it does with other food items. For purposes of argument, we’re not including getting sick from mercury or eating a fish that is obviously potentially dangerous like Japanese Fugu (blowfish).
According to familydoctor.org, there are two ways to get food poisoning from eating fish: Ciguatera poisoning and Scombroid poisoning. Ciguatera can result from eating reef fish or tropical fish that has eaten another poisonous fish and Scombroid poisoning can result from eating fish that became too warm after it was caught.
Ciguatera poisoning symptoms are similar to ordinary food poisoning and include nausea, diarrhea and dizziness while Scombroid poisoning may include trouble breathing and other symptoms similar to an allergic reaction. The symptoms may last up to two weeks and can be treated with medication.
You should avoid eating the internal organs of fish as the organs and the digestive tract in particular are likely to contain the most poison if the fish is carrying poison. Ciguatera is most common in Amberjack, grouper, snapper, sturgeon, king mackerel, barracuda and moray eel; all predator fish near the top of the food chain.