Yuck.... Bad costco fish experience.

evident

Lifer
Apr 5, 2005
12,095
708
126
Yesterday we went to Costco to buy a ton of meats and stuff to stock up the fridge, so we don't have to go there during the mad holiday season. Got some nice prime NY Strip steaks, skirt steaks, chicken thighs, pork chops, squid, shrimp, and cod...

So after we get home we were putting stuff away in individual packs and stuff. I open up the cod packet, and i see two little worms squirming and moving over the fillet. I've never seen that before and I was so grossed out. we threw it away and called up costco.
they said next time we go there they will give us a refund, but that it was NORMAL for cod to have worms on it! Is this true? I looked it up on the webz and most people said that it's normal for cod to have worms. i'm sure i've eaten some before but man, i really didn't need to see that, especially after paying $20 for it.

I took one of the worms and put it in my sink and then poured scalding hot vinegar water from cleaning my coffee pot on it. :awe: Costco's always done right by me, so i dont think i'd hold it against them. the cod really didn't smell fresh though, but the rest of the meats looked to be in really good condition, and chances are, i'll probably be eating sushi in a few days anyways
 
Last edited:
Sep 7, 2009
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Yeah, I wouldn't have eaten it either.


Costco is awesome though... If they're giving you a refund from the receipt-only then that's pretty much all they can do. IME Costco is excellent with QC, if there's any sort of food problem they notify anyone who has purchased it etc etc etc.



I love Costco.
 

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,997
126
It's very common for cod, salmon and especially swordfish to have worms. They're not dangerous, just remove and cook. If the worms gross you out order different varieties of fish.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,895
1,090
126
fish is teh nasties! I didn't like it before reading this post, and after I like it even less.
 

steppinthrax

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2006
3,990
6
81
It's very common for cod, salmon and especially swordfish to have worms. They're not dangerous, just remove and cook. If the worms gross you out order different varieties of fish.

From what I understand worms live in the gut of the fish (kind of like a relationship). when the fish is killed the worms move from the gut to the muscle. If the fish is kept cold (on ice) the worms will stay in the gut and during the processing of the fish the guts will be removed with the worms. For fish used sushi or some raw format, are processed in a special manner. When I was in china I remember I contracted worms. It's actually quite common and most people have them in their body and don't even know. There is a pinworm that can live with you for the rest of your life and depeneding on how sensative you are, you won't even notice. I went to a pharm there and got some pills to flush em out. Unless it's a segmented worm (tapeworm) I wouldn't worry.
 

evident

Lifer
Apr 5, 2005
12,095
708
126
meh. Considering the stuff I've eaten, would've eaten it still.

I love fish.

Dude, I love sushi. I've been to Japan 5 times and I'll eat raw oysters, raw shrimp, anything. But actually seeing the worms in something i bought, i dunno, it crossed the line for me yesterday. If i knew what I know now after reading about how worms are dealt with by fishmongers and how they are common in cod... i dunno, there may have been less of a chance of me throwing it out, lol.

http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2006/09/parasites-in-fish-part-1-cod-worm.html


fish is teh nasties! I didn't like it before reading this post, and after I like it even less.

Fish rocks, man. countless civilizations have lived on fish alone. It's not any more nasty or riskier than eating say, a pig or cow? people have died from eating anything from spinich to beef.
 
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Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,173
12,701
136
Parasites

Cod and related species are plagued by parasites. One of the most interesting is a grotesque and massively modified crustacean, known as the cod worm (Lernaeocera branchialis). This animal starts life as a small free swimming larva that is undoubtedly a crustacean. Its first host is the lumpsucker which it captures with grasping hooks at the front of its body. It penetrates the lumpsucker with a thin filament that it uses to suck blood. Cod worms mate on the lumpsucker and the female takes her fertilized eggs to a cod and clinging to its gills, metamorphoses into something that looks scarcely animal. Her crustacean features give way to a plump, s-shaped, worm-like body. Nestled against the rear of her body is a coiled mass of egg strings. The worm is also grotesque in behavior because the front part of her body penetrates the body of the fish and enters the rear bulb of the host's heart. Firmly rooted in the cod's circulatory system, the front part of the female parasite grows like the branches of a tree, reaching down into the main artery. The worm extracts nutrients from the cod's blood and remains there, safely tucked beneath the cod's gill cover, eventually releasing her offspring into the water.

eeew!

D:
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,599
126
Fish rocks, man. countless civilizations have lived on fish alone. It's not any more nasty or riskier than eating say, a pig or cow? people have died from eating anything from spinich to beef.

Q only eats fried fish. Don't bother.
 

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
38,416
4
0
fish is teh nasties! I didn't like it before reading this post, and after I like it even less.

I agree, I despise the "seafood" taste, there are a few types of fish that I will try (but never order willingly), simply because they do not taste much like fish...
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,895
1,090
126
I agree, I despise the "seafood" taste, there are a few types of fish that I will try (but never order willingly), simply because they do not taste much like fish...

Catfish & Talapia come to mind, if fried I'll eat both. And not surprisingly the people I know who really like fish despise both ha. Fried Catfish Nuggets with Cajun Fries is a pretty awesome lunch once every 6 or so months.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,599
126
Catfish & Talapia come to mind, if fried I'll eat both. And not surprisingly the people I know who really like fish despise both ha. Fried Catfish Nuggets with Cajun Fries is a pretty awesome lunch once every 6 or so months.

because 1 is a bottom feeder and the other has no flavor


for someone that does not like fish I find it funny that you eat the fish who will eat anything at the bottom of the river.

(I do not have anything against catfish, just sayin')
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
Yesterday we went to Costco to buy a ton of meats and stuff to stock up the fridge, so we don't have to go there during the mad holiday season. Got some nice prime NY Strip steaks, skirt steaks, chicken thighs, pork chops, squid, shrimp, and cod...

So after we get home we were putting stuff away in individual packs and stuff. I open up the cod packet, and i see two little worms squirming and moving over the fillet. I've never seen that before and I was so grossed out. we threw it away and called up costco.
they said next time we go there they will give us a refund, but that it was NORMAL for cod to have worms on it! Is this true? I looked it up on the webz and most people said that it's normal for cod to have worms. i'm sure i've eaten some before but man, i really didn't need to see that, especially after paying $20 for it.

I took one of the worms and put it in my sink and then poured scalding hot vinegar water from cleaning my coffee pot on it. :awe: Costco's always done right by me, so i dont think i'd hold it against them. the cod really didn't smell fresh though, but the rest of the meats looked to be in really good condition, and chances are, i'll probably be eating sushi in a few days anyways

Prime grade beef at Costco? Not bloody likely!!!
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,895
1,090
126
because 1 is a bottom feeder and the other has no flavor


for someone that does not like fish I find it funny that you eat the fish who will eat anything at the bottom of the river.

(I do not have anything against catfish, just sayin')

Pigs eat anything and I love bacon, the fact they eat everything they find is probably what makes them taste so damn good. Catfish is one of the least fishy tasting fishes, same with Talapia.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,599
126
Pigs eat anything and I love bacon, the fact they eat everything they find is probably what makes them taste so damn good. Catfish is one of the least fishy tasting fishes, same with Talapia.

not true at all re: catfish, it can and does occasionally have a real bad catfish funk.


<---vietnamese, eats catfish 23490538495 different ways.
 

sactoking

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2007
7,627
2,885
136
Prime grade beef at Costco? Not bloody likely!!!

WTF are you talking about? My Costco has prime grade stuff all of the time. There are always prime sirloin steaks, prime new york steaks, and prime ribeye steaks here. Gor the holidays they're selling lots of bone-in and boneless rib roasts and even some of them are prime (aka real prime rib). Hell, one time they had 4 or 5 packages of prime ribeye steaks with the wrong label on them so I got something like 16 prime ribeyes for ~$6 per pound (normally ~$14 per pound).
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,091
6,608
126
I got cod with worms one time and took it back but the fishmonger just blew me off saying that's not worms that's fish cancer.