“Could be the olives, could be a parasite.” That’s the horrifyingly epic phrase that could easily be the tagline for one California woman’s recent ill-advised culinary adventure.
Trader Joe’s is one of the best places to buy cheap wine, interesting snacks, and pop-in-the-oven meals. Almost always, the food is nicely presented.
But when Dazai’s Diary (@majindazai) posted an image of her Trader Joe’s salmon pinwheel online, viewers were horrified to see she enjoyed it raw.
Not rare, not sushi, but uncooked. Speaking over a still image of her salmon pinwheel, half a jar of pimento-stuffed olives, and a pile of sliced red onions, Dazai explains what went explosively wrong. It all starts with a question.
“This is a Trader Joe’s pinwheel [salmon wrapped around a mixture of spinach and feta cheese],” she says. “A salmon pinwheel. It looks good. This is what I ate right now. This is what I’m on.”
She explains she ate this same Trader Joe’s meal two days ago without any problem. But today, today things have gone awry. She’s not feeling well, and it wasn’t until her godmother alerted her that she suspected anything could be wrong.
Clean Plate Club?
She’d sent a picture of her plate to her godmother and said, “Look how good this looks, mumnumnumnum.”
Her godmother replied, “That looks raw, WTF?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“It be like that sometimes,” Dazai quipped.
Her godmother drilled down, asking how Dazai ate that, and learning that it was consumed completely raw.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the godmother said. “I think you were supposed to cook that.”
Dazai then called her “ridiculous and strange.”
But doubt lingered. So Dazai went to TikTok and did a little Trader Joe’s pinwheel research. And in every instance, she saw creators cooking it.
Now she’s asking the internet how much trouble she’s in, because her stomach “hurts so bad” and she’s been “farting.”
Worth noting? In a subsequent video, she says the Trader Joe’s packaging did have “a suggestion” to “barbeque, pan-fry, or broil” the pinwheel. But she says she didn’t notice it, or she thinks it was not clear that it was a directive—her reasoning is unclear.
Just Because It’s Raw Fish Doesn’t Make It Sushi
In the comments section, it’s almost like you can hear the internet’s collective jaw dropping.
“Pin wheel, baby you finna have pin worms,” one said.
Several other users make the case for an ASAP trip to the doctor. “Girl you might want to go to the doctor IMMEDIATELY,” another encouraged.
Another viewer addressed another lingering question, “Sushi aside, an onion wedge and half a jar of olives?!?!”
Dazai responded, “Dude, yess.”
How Dangerous Is Raw Fish?
Later that night (in the early hours of the next morning), Dazai’s gastrointestinal distress evolved from flatulence to “s——- her face off.” As she reflects on the lessons she’s learning, a central one becomes clear: sushi-grade fish is an actual thing. It’s fish that’s been judged good enough to warrant being frozen to kill any nasty parasites. And her godmother was right.
The Cleveland Clinic notes that “48 million people get sick, and 3,000 people die from food borne illnesses each year in the U.S.”
The site further reports that “some of the common food borne illnesses associated with raw fish include: Salmonella, Vibrio vulnificus, and Parasitic tapeworms. All three can cause diarrhea and abdominal pain, and additional symptoms can include vomiting, fever, and in the case of worms, weight loss.”
That same article notes that for consumption of raw fish, you can freeze it and kill the parasites that might make you sick. “The The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) recommends that you either freeze fish at -4 F for seven days (or -31 F for 15 hours if you need to freeze it more quickly),” it notes.
However, the cases of parasitic worm infestation in humans are “vanishingly small” compared to the total population.
And because raw fish, especially fattier fish like salmon, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, in certain instances it can be even healthier than cooked fish—as long as you manage to prepare it correctly. Because, it seems, the line between “healthy choice” and “urgent care” is thinner than a raw onion slice.
BroBible reached out to Dazai via TikTok comment and direct message, and to Trader Joe’s via their media contact form.