I recently heard about a fish known as "butterfish," that's supposed to be a very high fat, oily fish. Coincidentally, I also tried "white tuna" sashimi while out with my boyfriend's mom the other day. I looked up butterfish because I saw it being sold at the fish market I go to, and found that sometimes "butterfish" which is actually escolar, can be sold in sushi restaurants mislabeled as "white tuna." Anyways, I really liked the "white tuna" at the restaurant, so I wouldn't really mind getting it from the market, since escolar is supposed to be fatty. But I read some weird stuff online about side effects and toxicity ...
"Escolar's wax ester content can cause keriorrhea (Greek: flow of wax), gempylotoxism or gempylid fish poisoning.[4] Keriorrhea is similar to diarrhea, only the body will expel yellowish-orange drops of oil instead of liquid bowel movements. Some individuals suffering from escolar-induced keriorrhea also report other digestive issues, including stomach cramps, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and anal leakage; onset may occur between 30 minutes and 36 hours following consumption.[5] This condition may also be referred to as steatorrhea."
I didn't experience this myself when eating what was most likely escolar, but I also only had three pieces of it, and it said less than 6 oz will let you avoid the symptoms. But it even says that Italy and Japan has completely banned the sales of the fish because it's considered toxic.
I was wondering if anyone here eats escolar? If it's what I tasted at the restaurant, I really, really liked it. But I just want to know if the side effects are concerning.
