worms in leftover sauce

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would get treatment. I’m not a hypochondriac but lived in 3rd world countries growing up where it wasn’t uncommon to get parasites. The tapeworm was the most revolting. And we never ate pork because of the risk.

Ugh. Good luck.

Are worms and parasites only in pork?
Are not in other meat or fish?

Parasites can be in many foods but trichinosis is only in pork and back when I was a kid it hadn’t yet been eradicated, at least not in developing countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would get treatment. I’m not a hypochondriac but lived in 3rd world countries growing up where it wasn’t uncommon to get parasites. The tapeworm was the most revolting. And we never ate pork because of the risk.

Ugh. Good luck.

Are worms and parasites only in pork?
Are not in other meat or fish?

Parasites can be in many foods but trichinosis is only in pork and back when I was a kid it hadn’t yet been eradicated, at least not in developing countries.

OP says she bought the meat from an ethnic market and doesn’t know where it originated from.

[Anonymous]

Italians (at least my extended family) won’t eat swordfish. “Cause it’s wormy.”
Hope you went to doc, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should I see a medical professional? I am feeling a bit freaked out this evening because I was going to eat some leftover sauce from slow-cooking some pork (overnight Tuesday, cooked 10 1/2 hours on low, consumed some of it Wednesday and Thursday, froze the rest except for the sauce which I had scraped off and saved). When I took the lid off of the small container of sauce, there were two white worms on top. They weren't moving, but I am quite sure they were worms. They were a bit more than a centimeter in length, maybe 1.5 mm in diameter. I quickly dumped the sauce down the garbage disposal (didn't take a photo). Now I am worried that if worms grew in the sauce over the last several days, it would suggest that somehow the slow cooking didn't fully kill some worm larvae that were in the pork, and so I wonder if I am at risk for trichinosis or another worm-related disease.

I've been reading up on trichinosis tonight. It says that in the early days after consuming undercooked meat, symptoms could be abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea. I have had some diarrhea (just once a day, but each day for the last several days... but I have been eating spicy food and sometimes get diarrhea for that reason). Other symptoms could take 2 - 8 weeks to appear, if worms travel to muscle tissue and begin reproducing there.

The information I read said that a treatment to kill parasites is best commenced within the first three days, while the parasites are still in the intestines before moving to muscle tissue. So I am wondering if I should go to an urgent care center, or if I am over-reacting. At this early point, I don't know that blood tests could detect anything yet, and I don't know if a medical professional would prescribe an anti-parasitic drug just based on my finding worms in my sauce.

By the way, I never left the pork or sauce sitting out. I had bought the pork frozen and had thawed it for a couple of hours (actually it was sitting out then, not in the fridge) and I browned the pork while it was still slightly frozen and then slow-cooked it overnight. I didn't check the internal temperature. I had cut the meat into bite-sized chunks. It all looked thoroughly cooked. Another piece of info is that I bought the pork at an Asian market; I don't know if the pork was imported from another country or not.

I just keep coming back to the thought that there were worms in the sauce, so that means there must have been larvae in the meat that didn't get killed in the cooking. And in my mind, that means there is a reasonable chance there are worms growing in me right now, and if so, the sooner I do something about it, the better.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bonus protein

[Anonymous]

Trichinosis has been virtually eliminated from the USA pork industry, which is why most recipes for chops medallions roasts etc. now mention that it’s okay to cook the pork to pink not cardboard overdone like out mothers did in the 70s.

I am willing to bet that what you saw was not worms. Cooking ten hours on low should have thawed and cooked the meat enough to kill anything in the meat. I think you saw some nasty looking structures from the pork breaking down which can resemble wormlike shapes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What temperature was the slow cook at?

Low setting can be 190-210 Fahrenheit (87-98 C). That would be sufficient to kill a parasite.

[Anonymous]

I grew up on a horse farm. Our vet also treated some farm animals in the region. I don't remember how the conversation started, but he once said he didn't eat pork because it is apparently the only farm animal in which you can't completely eradicate parasites. The vet was a meat eater who didn't eat pork. And I haven't eaten pork since he told me that all those years ago.

I think there is a reason that religions that began in hot desert climates avoid pork. It is the most dangerous meat because it is full of parasites and nastiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Yet another reason to be a vegetarian. But, bacon.

Plants have tons of salmonella, E. coli, and listeria recalls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Yet another reason to be a vegetarian. But, bacon.

Plants have tons of salmonella, E. coli, and listeria recalls

But not worms!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t want to come over and eat at your house. You don’t defrost meat before cooking it? Gross!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Yet another reason to be a vegetarian. But, bacon.

Plants have tons of salmonella, E. coli, and listeria recalls

But not worms!

Have you looked at a plant lately? I just picked worms (okay, caterpillars probably) out of my lovely fresh corn.

[Anonymous]

OP here with a follow-up. I managed to get into an urgent care center this afternoon (not easy to do - I had to try a number of places). The doctor wanted to check my white blood cell count and gave me four containers for stool samples to test for different parasites (I think), which would take another 72 hours after I dropped off the samples (which would not be possible until tomorrow since they were about to close). I tried to explain that my online reading had indicated that starting treatment within the first several days would be best.

Not surprisingly, I guess, he was quite indignant at the thought of prescribing me something based on my report of finding two small worms in my sauce, along with several days of diarrhea, and my Internet research. "What would you want me to prescribe??" he was semi-shouting at me. I said that the CDC article I had read had mentioned two possible anti-parasitic drugs.

He sent a technician in to collect my blood and give me the stool sample containers. And then as I was checking out, he said that he had sent a prescription over to my pharmacy, but he wanted me to check with my primary care physician first before picking it up or taking it, since it is a medication he has no familiarity with and he doesn't know how it might interact with other prescriptions I might be taking. He said he had read the CDC information while I was getting my blood drawn. He wanted me to go to my PCP ASAP (tomorrow morning).

So it was kind of interesting that the article impressed upon him the need for acting quickly.

However, I have since done more research and have found out that the worms I saw were probably not trichinella, because they are much tinier. There are a bunch of other possible parasites that are larger like the worms I saw, including the cysticercosis worms that were mentioned on page 1 by a doctor. The anti-parasitic medication prescribed to me should work on most of the possibilities.

It turns out to be insanely expensive at my usual pharmacy (over $1,000 for a minimal 8-day course) even with my prescription drug coverage which barely made a dent, or a GoodRX coupon at that pharmacy (but it seems I might be able to get it for the mid-$300s at a different pharmacy). I will talk to my PCP tomorrow (I hope) and if I get the thumbs up, I will probably go ahead and take the medication and hope that the minimum course is sufficient.

I really appreciate hearing from a couple of doctors who urged me to seek treatment.

In answer to those who scolded me for cooking not-fully-thawed meat, I had thought by poking it that it was fully thawed, but the bottom side of it still felt a bit frosty as I placed it in the pan for browning. (That side had been on the foam container.) But after browning it on both sides, I cut it into smaller pieces and browned it some more, and it truly was thawed. I think the bigger problem was that I should have used a meat thermometer to make sure the meat had gotten cooked to a safe temperature, given that I had been slow-cooking it on low heat.

Lesson learned.

And for those of you saying that the higher risk of parasites in pork is why you don't eat it... believe me, I think I have completely lost my interest in future pork consumption!!

I did return to the international market where I had purchased the meat. The label on the packages is from a U.S. company, and a worker in the meat department told me it was from the U.S.

I still keep coming back to the image of those two worms though, and no - they weren't congealed fat, though there was some easily identifiable congealed fat along the edge of the container, which was quite different. And no, they weren't some other pork substance that might have come up from the cooked meat.

But in my reading, I did find out that worms in pork don't like acidic things, and can emerge from the meat to avoid something acidic; my sauce was tomato-based, which might explain why the worms were on top of the sauce when I removed the lid several days after cooking.

I have learned more than I wanted to know about some very gross parasites. I am glad that I eat a mostly plant-based diet, which is going to be even more plant-based going forward!

[Anonymous]

That's all folks! - Porky Pig

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here with a follow-up. I managed to get into an urgent care center this afternoon (not easy to do - I had to try a number of places). The doctor wanted to check my white blood cell count and gave me four containers for stool samples to test for different parasites (I think), which would take another 72 hours after I dropped off the samples (which would not be possible until tomorrow since they were about to close). I tried to explain that my online reading had indicated that starting treatment within the first several days would be best.

Not surprisingly, I guess, he was quite indignant at the thought of prescribing me something based on my report of finding two small worms in my sauce, along with several days of diarrhea, and my Internet research. "What would you want me to prescribe??" he was semi-shouting at me. I said that the CDC article I had read had mentioned two possible anti-parasitic drugs.

He sent a technician in to collect my blood and give me the stool sample containers. And then as I was checking out, he said that he had sent a prescription over to my pharmacy, but he wanted me to check with my primary care physician first before picking it up or taking it, since it is a medication he has no familiarity with and he doesn't know how it might interact with other prescriptions I might be taking. He said he had read the CDC information while I was getting my blood drawn. He wanted me to go to my PCP ASAP (tomorrow morning).

So it was kind of interesting that the article impressed upon him the need for acting quickly.

However, I have since done more research and have found out that the worms I saw were probably not trichinella, because they are much tinier. There are a bunch of other possible parasites that are larger like the worms I saw, including the cysticercosis worms that were mentioned on page 1 by a doctor. The anti-parasitic medication prescribed to me should work on most of the possibilities.

It turns out to be insanely expensive at my usual pharmacy (over $1,000 for a minimal 8-day course) even with my prescription drug coverage which barely made a dent, or a GoodRX coupon at that pharmacy (but it seems I might be able to get it for the mid-$300s at a different pharmacy). I will talk to my PCP tomorrow (I hope) and if I get the thumbs up, I will probably go ahead and take the medication and hope that the minimum course is sufficient.

I really appreciate hearing from a couple of doctors who urged me to seek treatment.

In answer to those who scolded me for cooking not-fully-thawed meat, I had thought by poking it that it was fully thawed, but the bottom side of it still felt a bit frosty as I placed it in the pan for browning. (That side had been on the foam container.) But after browning it on both sides, I cut it into smaller pieces and browned it some more, and it truly was thawed. I think the bigger problem was that I should have used a meat thermometer to make sure the meat had gotten cooked to a safe temperature, given that I had been slow-cooking it on low heat.

Lesson learned.

And for those of you saying that the higher risk of parasites in pork is why you don't eat it... believe me, I think I have completely lost my interest in future pork consumption!!

I did return to the international market where I had purchased the meat. The label on the packages is from a U.S. company, and a worker in the meat department told me it was from the U.S.

I still keep coming back to the image of those two worms though, and no - they weren't congealed fat, though there was some easily identifiable congealed fat along the edge of the container, which was quite different. And no, they weren't some other pork substance that might have come up from the cooked meat.

But in my reading, I did find out that worms in pork don't like acidic things, and can emerge from the meat to avoid something acidic; my sauce was tomato-based, which might explain why the worms were on top of the sauce when I removed the lid several days after cooking.

I have learned more than I wanted to know about some very gross parasites. I am glad that I eat a mostly plant-based diet, which is going to be even more plant-based going forward!

Ty vv much for the update! Hoping the best for you. I have learned a lot from this thread + will be more careful about what I eat as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Yet another reason to be a vegetarian. But, bacon.

Plants have tons of salmonella, E. coli, and listeria recalls

But not worms!

Have you looked at a plant lately? I just picked worms (okay, caterpillars probably) out of my lovely fresh corn.

Do you understand the difference between caterpillars and TAPEWORM LARVAE? Those caterpillars are not parasites that migrate through your intestinal wall to your muscles and brain ffs.