Does anyone eat raw shrimp?

[common_sense]

If so, what are the pre-cautionary considerations? Is there any risk (no matter how unlikely)? How do you prepare (do you remove the skin and intestines (the black line in the middle)?
Thanks.

[TylerDurden]

I just remove the outer skin(looking like plastic) and eat the rest. I have to admit that I am extremely recluctant to eat raw shrimp/prawns of any kind after reading that SE Asia routinely feeds their shrimp/prawns on diets filled with excrement....

[JeuneKoq]

I ate some of those medium-size "wild" shrimps from the Indian ocean, frozen. I eat the shell (skin) because it's mineral rich, and sometimes the black line. It tastes a bit like bad cheese after a while.

[TylerDurden]

I ate some of those medium-size "wild" shrimps from the Indian ocean, frozen. I eat the shell (skin) because it's mineral rich, and sometimes the black line. It tastes a bit like bad cheese after a while.

Not to be odious/personal, but the more adventurous than you or me(or perhaps those of higher IQ/higher rawist experience?) such as eveheart and SB et al  either start their own farms and feed their animals whatever  is biologically rawpalaeo appropriate for their animals  or always check out the farms they buy from via quarterly etc. car-visits. I  have myself never been 100% convinced by claims from 100% grassfed/organic-farmed sources as I do not possess a car so as to check a farm and am increasingly prone to a new idea of just buying a half- or whole carcass of a wild animal from a local hunter here in Austria every so often. Forget raw wildcaught seafood unless I visit my villa east of Nice on the coast once a year....

[goodsamaritan]

I eat shrimp often enough.

I buy only fresh wild ocean shrimp.

If the shrimp has been transported, I will dip in vinegar to disinfect.

If I buy from a beach super fresh, I eat plain.

[TylerDurden]

I eat shrimp often enough.

I buy only fresh wild ocean shrimp.

If the shrimp has been transported, I will dip in vinegar to disinfect.

If I buy from a beach super fresh, I eat plain.

Nothing wrong with wildcaught, it is just that I have read appalling stories about how shellfish are farmed in SE Asia:-

http://www.businessinsider.com/disgusting-truths-about-asian-aquaculture-2012-10?IR=T

[JeuneKoq]

Nothing wrong with wildcaught, it is just that I have read appalling stories about how shellfish are farmed in SE Asia:-

It's usually written if the shrimps comes from aquaculture or are wildcaught. I bought wildcaught, as I'm aware of some aspects of the horrible conditions aquaculture shrimps are raised in (like bathing in synthetic growth agents, antibiotics etc...).

As for your point regarding visiting farms, it's gonna be a tough one checking the middle of the Indian ocean to make sure the water is clean I have no choice than to trust the labels in this case.

[TylerDurden]

As for your point regarding visiting farms, it's gonna be a tough one checking the middle of the Indian ocean to make sure the water is clean I have no choice than to trust the labels in this case.

I know but, as a result,  I am increasingly keen on promoting the consumption of raw high-grade foods from local areas. I am certain that I have been fooled many  times by foods sourced from 1000s of kms away, let alone from far closer locations..... all because I am an idiot who cannot be bothered to pass a driving-test.....

[sabertooth]

I wont touch any seafood that says farmed... even if they practice ecologically sound methods, in many cases the operations are just too close to other kinds of industrial runoff areas, for one to be absolutely sure. There is a woman who raised prawns locally and though she used the most ethical and clean methods available, the EPA test she had done showed there where problems with heavy metal contamination. When you cloister organisms into mono crops, be it on land or in man made harbors, there is always the potential for ecological imbalances, where the natural cleaner species like the worms, insects, microbes, ect are entirely overrun, leaving the environment of the farmed species festering in its own waste

Shrimp are the insects of the oceans, so if you are willing to eat whole shrimp from the other side of the world, why not just go out and dig up some grubs from local and clean areas near your home.

I dont do it often but I have eaten the big white grubs, they are plentiful in the mound of horse manure compost, Ive been using to fertilize my garden.

[JeuneKoq]

Shrimp are the insects of the oceans, so if you are willing to eat whole shrimp from the other side of the world, why not just go out and dig up some grubs from local and clean areas near your home.

I'd love to go out and capture wild insects from clean wild places, except I don't live near any. I'm surrounded by city and conventional agriculture crops. Actually, there is a forest, but it's still winter, and I have no idea what to look for and where*. The supermarket is much closer.
Also, is one person taking the car to go capture a handful of insects really less polluting than one cargo ship transporting tons of them? Proportionally?


*If you people know of a forest and/or European insect "hunting" guide, please let me know. For real.

[TylerDurden]

Hmm, SB has a point. Maybe I ought to buy an earthworm farm of some sort......

[sabertooth]

Also, is one person taking the car to go capture a handful of insects really less polluting than one cargo ship transporting tons of them? Proportionally?

The answer would depend greatly upon the variables. Not only is there the energy of transporting the food from Timbuktu to your city, but cultivated foods, be it bugs or bison, has to employ people who travel back and forth to work, and the feed and other supplies has to be transported, the waste material has to be disposed, ect. Leaving the total energy footprint many times greater than the final shipping amount.

I just drove my truck 68 miles and back, to pick up a sheep that was born on the farm and raised on pasture. Seeing that there is no feed energy expense, and I only used 7 gallons of gas to bring the animal home, I would say that my food is about as energy conserving as possible under the circumstances, though I personally dont buy into the CO2 from fossil fuels being the end of the world.

Its primarily out of frugality and food quality that I advocate locally sourced foods...and I will agree that driving many miles in a car to gather a few insects may not be the best use of fuel...though I would suggest that going on foraging forays where multiple food stuffs can be collected can indeed be worth the gasoline expenditure comparative to buying supper market goods.

I live in near so many great foraging areas... the Appalachia Mountains, the Kentucky river valley, Daniel Boone National Forrest, and scattered prairies are overflowing with food for those willing to get it. There are areas with plenty of grubs, beetles, worms, frogs, crayfish, snakes, fish, squirrels, deer....there are seasonal black berries, lots of wild greens, roots, and shoots, ect.

Personally I am spoiled on Fatty Mutton, back yard eggs, garden greens, and herbs. I will pay for other extras from our local co-op and farmers market, though by the end of this spring when my garden gets going, I plan to be 90% self sustained and locally supplied....as for the other 10%.....just cant give up taste for non local treats like coconut butter, lemons, sea weed, and the occasional ocean fish.

[common_sense]

Thanks for all the reply and suggestions. Yes, I will also only eat raw shrimp if they are wild catch, not farm raised. But my original question is more concern of if there is any knowing risk of parasites or bacteria infection? Also, how it tastes?
Thanks!

[sabertooth]

There are not any issues with raw shrimp as long as they are fresh and from a clean source....as far as Im aware of.

I like shrimp, and I have gone out with my girlfriend to eat ceviche on a few occasions...Its made with raw shrimp mixed with fish, marinated in lime juice, with a little cilantro and minced unions...very tasty.