Raw is risky: Squid sperm buries into woman’s tongue

A 63-year-old woman got a nasty shock when tucking into a seafood dinner.

According to Sophie Roberts of the Daily Star, the South Korean patient sought medical attention after she consumed raw squid.

Doctors discovered that her mouth had been inseminated by the creature’s sperm, which had lodged into her tongue and gums.

A Journal of Parasitology report noted that the woman immediately knew something was wrong with the dish.

Even though she spat out the mouthful, she was still affected by the uncooked seafood.

It explained: “As soon as she put a piece into her mouth, she felt like many ‘bugs’ were biting her oral mucosa.

“She experienced severe sharp pain and spat out the entire portion without swallowing.

“Despite that, she could feel many small squirming white bug-like organisms penetrating her.”

The squid sperm acted as it would during reproduction, leading to it implanting itself into the patient’s mouth.

After seeking medical attention, the woman was believed to make a full recovery.

While this case may seem very out of the ordinary, it isn’t the first time it has happened.

In 2011, a 21-year-old woman fell victim to a similar problem after consuming the sexual organs of a raw squid.

Pathology International reported that she also suffered issues with her gums and tongue.

The study warned: “Consumption of a squid with sperm bags and an active ejaculatory apparatus can lead to unintended ejection of the sperm bag and injury to the oral mucosa.”

This whole process is actually autonomous, meaning that the squid’s sex organ is prone to firing off without any conscious decision by the squid, according to a study in the journal Zoomorphology.

Food fraud: EU warns Italy to stop treating squid with hydrogen peroxide

Michael Ramsingh of Seafoodnews.com reports European trade officials have warned Italy to stop soaking its squid in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and shipping it to markets around the EU.

squid-fish-marketItalian officials were notified by the EU Commission’s Ministry of Health that soaking squid in H2O2 currently violates specific food safety regulations.  The practice is legal in the Italian market but is not approved in other member countries.

“The use of this substance as a food additive, therefore, is not authorized in the EU,” the Commission said in a statement. “The Member States have the responsibility to enforce effectively the Union legislation concerning the food chain, which also includes rules applicable to the use of food additives.”

H2O2 is used to treat squid to increase its marketability since it whitens the product on display. The treatment does not pose a health risk for consumers. However, the practice is considered dubious since it is nearly impossible to tell a treated squid product with a non-treated item, which makes it difficult to verify the actual freshness of the item.

Food fraud: Is that octopus in a can or squid

Jonathan Stempel of Seafood News reports, a new lawsuit accuses Goya Foods Inc of cheating consumers by selling canned octopus products that actually contain cheaper, lower quality jumbo squid.

Goya canned octopus in garlic sauce“Independent DNA testing” confirmed that the largest Hispanic-owned U.S. food company made the switch, according to a complaint filed late Wednesday in the federal court in San Jose, California. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 million of damages.

Goya, based in Jersey City, New Jersey, did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment.

The plaintiff Luis Diego Zapata Fonseca, of Salinas, California, sued on behalf of purchasers nationwide and in California of Goya canned octopus in garlic sauce, hot sauce, pickled sauce or olive oil.

According to the complaint, both fish have similar textures, making it hard for people to tell them apart, especially when they are bathed in sauce.

But while octopus prices have risen because of overfishing, jumbo squid are thriving, and they adapt easily to changing ocean conditions caused by global warming, the complaint said.

Squid strikes woman’s oral cavity with spermatophores

Park et al. report in the Journal of Paristology the case of oral stings by spermatophores of the squid Todarodes pacificus. A 63-yr-old Korean woman experienced severe pain in her oral cavity immediately after eating a portion of parboiled squid along with its internal organs. She did not swallow the portion, but spat it out immediately. She complained of a pricking and foreign-body sensation in the oral cavity.

Twelve small, white spindle-shaped, bug-like organisms stuck in the mucous membrane of the tongue, cheek, and gingiva were completely removed, along with the affected mucosa. On the basis of their morphology and the presence of the sperm bag, the foreign bodies were identified as squid spermatophores.

Penetration of the oral mucosa by parasite-like sperm bags of squid: A case report in a Korean woman, Journal of Parasitology 98(1):222-223. 2012
Gab-Man Park, Jong-Yun Kim, Jeong-Ho Kim, and Jong-Ki Huh