While the great Sino-Korean “Kimchi War” rages on, the Korea Food and Drug Administration announced today that it discovered roundworm eggs in 16 of 502 domestic kimchi brands tested.
Coincidentally, for the benefit of readers, the Hanguk Ilbo ran a picture of a hookworm, some of which were apparently discovered in Chinese-produced kimchi. Nasty looking fucker, ain’t he:
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Necator and ANCYLOSTOMA, two types of hookworms that cause ancylostomiasis. The scientific name - Ancylostoma duodenale, and it’s common name - Old World hookworm of humans. This worm is one of three ANCYLOSTOMA worms, but the only one found in humans. The other two are found mainly in cats and dogs.
The picture here is of Ancylostoma. Notice the two large teeth fused at their bases, as well, a pair of small teeth are found in the depths of the capsule of this hookworm. Nice huh!
The symptoms are:
Itching of skin as the result of penetration by juveniles.
Congestion in lungs in heavy infections. (pneumonia like symptoms with swollen lymph nodes)
Anemia due to loss of blood, particularly if diet is deficient.
Diarrhea.
Persons with chronic hookworm disease are debilitated.
Management:
Hookworm disease of man is best controlled by sanitation involving the proper disposal of human feces. Fertilizer of human feces is sometimes used in developing countries, but in Korea, it’s likely from not washing hands after a trip to the toilet.
Treatment of infected individuals and proper diets to correct anemia.
Protective measures such as wearing of shoes in areas where hookworm is endemic.
Vermox (mebendazole). Mebendazole works by keeping the worm from absorbing sugar (glucose). This gradually causes loss of energy and death of the worm.
Over 900 million people are thought to be infected with hookworms.
In the southeastern U.S. 4 to 15% of humans are thought to be infected. This is not the same hook worm found in China, but it’s closely related.
Oh my God, that is the most hideous picture I have ever seen in my life! All the computer-generated Hollywood graphics in the world couldn’t up with something that simple yet that grotesque. Yuck!
The KDFA states in the Yonhap News “Those parasite eggs are believed to have come from cats and dogs raised in local farming areas…”
Which means they don’t really know. However, if you check my last post you’ll see that the two cat and dog varieties of this hookworm can’t host in humans. There are a variety of other roundworms (not of the hookworm family), that can be ingested by humans through dog or cat feces, which is more likely the common round worm.
Note* The hookworm Ancylostoma in the picture, courtesy of Naver News, can only be found in human excrement and NOT in cats and dogs. The other two varieties are not harmful to humans since they can’t be ingested and survive. Conclusion? There are no hookworms in the Kim chi! Whew, maybe my runs came from a biological whorehouse of E.coli, which means no more public pools, raw meat, or taking baths with significant others.
Here is where the researchers from Naver got the wrong image:
source:http://images.google.ca/images?q=hookworm + picturesvnum=10hl=kolr=start=40sa=N
Thats terrible… terrible…
This fucker reminds me of the dick with teeth… Or the maggots from a CSI episode…
Are you sure that isn’t just the Hanguk Ilbo’s annual Halloween Pumpkin picture?
I know where those suckers came from. From Chinese cabbages imported from China that’s been flooded in the market.
I’m just being sarcastic of course.
His mouth is shaped like the Canadian maple leaf. He must be hungry for Kraft dinner.
This doesn’t make any sense. How many cats and dogs in those cabbage farms to cause so much grief? And why are they running around loose, pooping all over the fields? Didn’t they say hookworms come from human feces? No parasite eggs were found in Chinese kimchi ingredients like cabbage and hot chilli powder, yet didn’t they say Chinese made kimchi were found to be tainted with parasites? One day they say there’s too much lead, next day they say it’s not hamful. My god, what and who the f*ck do you believe if you’re a Korean consumer?
His mouth is shaped like the Canadian maple leaf. He must be hungry for Kraft dinner.
It reminds me of pacman that gobbles up computer screens.
This, from the Korea Herald:
“The eggs are alleged to have come from pigs’ excrement used as fertilizer for cabbage”
Now add pigs to the mix.
“The ruling Uri Party said the government will overhaul the nation’s food management system, besides imposing strict punishment for food crimes. The government also plans to tighten food inspections at customs offices.”
Hallelujah. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
Thanks joyboy, these neat little creatures have been around for millions of years (unless you beleive in “intelligent design”) and know how to get around. Genetically speaking, they are smarter than us. No offense.
Of course Korea should “tighten” inspections at import points. That’s what Japan does. I have been to such places (harbours mostly) and beleive me, they throw a lot of stuff back at the Chinese, no thank you, we don’t need your maggots.
I don’t know enough about Korean politics to make sense of this, though. What is the Uri Party up to? But, frankly, China needs to clean up its act, if it wants to make money while feeding a hungry world.
I often get sick from the food I eat at work. Now I see this and can’t help but wonder what I have been eating all this time. I think it is safe to say the Korean media do not have all the right information nor do I believe that they are particularly reliable.
are the parasite eggs alive or dead (from natural causes, irradiation or high-temperature heat treatment) and, if alive, can they live through digestive acids to hatch and produce internal parasites?
I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I got food poisoning in China. Fortunately, it was never serious, just a few trips to the toilet to flush out the bug, but I knew people who rushed to the hospital doubled over in pain, usually after eating meat. I became a vegetarian in China and continue to avoid meat here in America due to the use of antibiotics and hormones. On CCTV there is a program called “Zhiliang Baogao” (Quality Report). After watching several times, I realized no food is safe, even apples and oranges. Those pretty polished pieces of fruit were once growing mold in a warehouse before being rescued by successive chemical baths and coatings. Bottled oils, sauces, and liquors with national brand labels sold in small mom-and-pop stores may be dangerous concoctions cooked up in a shack. Restaurant food is sometimes prepared in the most unsanitary conditions: on a floor or in a filthy sink. Watching Zhiliang Baogao is an excellent appetite supressor.
kimbob,
i’m sure there will be some new laws passed as a result of all this, what i’m also sure of is that they will be largely redundant and only enforced when there is a political situation that calls for it.
having a law against everything and only selectivlty enforcing them is that same as making laws up as you go along.
I think it is safe to say the Korean media do not have all the right information nor do I believe that they are particularly reliable.
James, I don’t think it’s the fault of the media this time. Consumers have the right to know what’s coming down on their tables. The most fault lies with the Korean Health Ministry which keeps on giving everybody mixed signals causing panic and confusion. Understaffed, underbudgeted, and they are way in over their heads, at a time when Korean consumers demands of higher standards are getting ever higher. They simply just do not know what they’re doing, and they need help. They need to look at food tracking and inspection systems that the US, Japan, and EU have in place, and ask for outside assistance and advice.
As it stands, it’s difficult to know where some of the food is really coming from. As far as we know, they could be shipped straight from a garbage dump, and months and years will go by before somebody finds out. With proper nation wide tagging, identification, tracking, and recording system, this would be difficult to happen. The greedy crooks may not be fully stopped, but at least it will be harder for them to do their business in the open. And I’m not even going to get into the needs of heavier punshiment and stricter law enforcements.
These kinds of problems have always been there, and probably much worse not too long ago. What’s changed is that media scrutiny has come much higher, whereas, in the past stuff like this were brushed under the carpet and ignored. The first steps of fixing a broken system is to admit that there is a problem. Korea’s at that stage now.
It’s a growing pains of going from a developing country to a fully developed country with higher standards.
Mark wrote:
“His mouth is shaped like the Canadian maple leaf. He must be hungry for Kraft dinner.”
…or poutine washed down with some Labatt Blue.
It’s kinda cute. Someone should grab it for gravatar use.
Korea keeps having these food problems all the time. They had that whole mandu scandal a while ago…. kind of scared to eat korean food now. Not that I could even if I wanted to
I want to remind some of the commentors of the fact that most kimichi from China is produced by Korean companies set up in China.
I heard that these f*ers destroyed kimchis imported from Korea to invert things.
I heard the tooth fairy is katz’s dad.