A restaurant patron out in New Jersey was stunned and devastated to discover that there were nematodes - tiny worms - crawling around in a fish dish. Jim Guinee was dining with his girlfriend Jennifer Marzano at Stella Marina Bar and Restaurant in Middletown when he noticed something in her (half eaten) cod.
Posting a video of worms crawling around in half-eaten cod to Facebook after the fact, Guinee explained in said video how the fish incident was just the final straw in what had not been a great night overall at the Stella Marina Bar and Restaurant. Explaining that he'd been out celebrating his aunt's 80th birthday, Guinee simply said: "dinner has come to life."
"Not only did we sit through almost our entire dinner without drinks, but now, dinner has come to life. After eating half of your fish, that is not what you want to see."
This video caused quite the buzz on social media, getting shared over 2,000 times, and in response, the Stella Marina stopped serving the dish in question. They also posted to their Facebook page (though that post has since been deleted) apologizing for their role in the incident.
To see the nauseating footage for yourself, check out the video below:
"One of our seafood purveyors did send us Saturday's cod and missed the small worms that were found by two of our guests, located in the center of their piece of fish. We immediately halted serving this dish. We also compensated the family of 8 generously and expressed our sincere concern and apologies that one our guests had anything less than an amazing experience at our restaurant."
But then, having attempted to build bridges, the restaurant then attempted to lash out at Guinee over social media, slamming him for putting them on blast for having worms in their foods. The Stella Marina Bar and Restaurant were reportedly "very surprised" at Guinee, who is an attorney, criticizing them online.
At the Disgusting Food Museum, however, people pay to have worms in their food:
"[We were] very surprised at the callousness and irresponsible reaction of an attorney of law to attempt to destroy our reputation & possible livelihoods due to something that could have happened to anyone, whether cooking at home or in a restaurant."
Guinee was upset to have been called out by the restaurant in such a manner, and let them know as much in a reply to their Facebook post. "If I were a plumber, would they have attacked me as 'a callous plumber?'" Guinee hit back. "It seemed like they were trying to divert attention rather than address the issue."
Although it can be very nauseating to find such a thing in a fish dish, nematodes and other worms can often be found in fish - especially wild ones. As the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization explains:
"No matter how carefully fish is inspected by processors, caterers and retailers, some worms will occasionally be discovered in fish by the consumer," the organization said. It added: "It should therefore be emphasized that the presence of worms in fish offered for sale does not imply carelessness or bad practice on the part of the processor or retailer."
The local Health Department decided not to comment on the incident.
This, however, is far from the first time that people have found something unsavory in their food.
One YouTube user got the shock of their life when a spider burst out of their banana:
So much for fruit being good for you, eh? That's enough to send anyone's heart rate through the roof - arachnophobe or not!
But if that wasn't enough to make you inspect your food a lot more closely for life, this definitely will be:
In short, if there's anything to be learned from these incidents, it's this: even with the best hygiene practices and will in the world, food preparation is subject to error, mistakes can and do happen when you are dealing with a substance that can rot - especially if it was once alive, and essentially turns into an insect buffet as it decays.
Have you ever found something unsavory in your food? Let us know in the poll below:
... Although, admittedly, that banana video isn't exactly doing much to promote veganism either. You can't win!
