Fans were alarmed after seeing what appeared to be a worm in TikToker Keith Lee’s piece of sushi. Days later, a woman was hospitalized after eating at the same restaurant.
The public wants answers and accountability.
The backstory on Wormgate
Keith Lee is a TikTok superstar known for his relatable food reviews, kind demeanor, and giving back to the restaurants he helps go viral.
In the last year, he’s taken to doing food tours in large cities and is currently in Seattle.
While showing off and rating what he got at FOB Sushi Bar, which offers self-serve sushi priced by the pound, viewers noticed something Lee didn’t catch. There was what looked like a worm wriggling out of the corner of a piece of his sushi. (If you’re curious, it’s at minute 1:50.)
For a few days neither Lee, who’s video now has more than 18 million views, nor the restaurant made any comments regarding Wormgate. But three days ago FOB Sushi Bar broke their silence.
In an Instagram post, they denied that Lee’s food was contaminated. They said they follow Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards for handling and serving raw fish.
They claimed that “the movement observed in the fish may result from natural elasticity or the pressure of chopsticks when applied to its structure.”
“Rumors like this can harm small businesses, so we’re addressing it head-on,” they added.
FOB Sushi Bar’s public statement wasn’t well received, with people accusing them of gaslighting the public and not taking accountability.
A woman is hospitalized
The day after FOB Sushi Bar’s statement, customer Joshua Rivera posted a viral video with more than 2 million views. It shows that his girlfriend had been in the hospital for a week after eating at FOB Sushi Bar.
“Keith Lee how ur stomach feeling?” he asked in the caption.
In a follow-up, Rivera came with receipts showing that he was at the restaurant the day after Lee posted. (It’s unclear if they went because of the video.) He felt the need to add context since people were accusing him of “posting for clout.”
In the video, Rivera showed a picture of the loaded-up sushi box they got for lunch. And screenshots of texts his girlfriend sent the next day. She tells him she felt like she had food poisoning, her stomach hurt, and she was excreting liquid and blood.
She ended up going to urgent care, she said. The couple says they gave her morphine and oxycodone for the pain, and they gave her a stool test to see what was going on internally. His videos were filmed from a hospital room, where he sits bedside with his girlfriend and recounts the events.
A week later, she’s apparently still in the hospital. A CAT scan showed her colon was inflamed and there were bacteria in her stomach area, and the stool test came back positive for E. Coli, Rivera claims.
“So we’re not posting this as a lie to gain clout or anything. We actually did have FOB Sushi, she did get E. Coli from it. No hate toward FOB Sushi … We’re just saying if you have it be careful,” Rivera said.
@joshuam_rivera Replying to @itsakayee story time!#fyp #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Joshua M Rivera
Keith Lee speaks out
Following FOB Sushi Bar’s statement and the hospitalization video, Lee spoke out, saying he hadn’t noticed the movement on his sushi until a fan pointed it out and that he’s good health-wise.
“The only reason I’m making this video is that I just saw a video of someone who went the day after us and is now hospitalized,” Lee said.
He added that he’s been in contact with Rivera and sent them well wishes.
“I don’t believe in tearing down any business. But at the same time, people’s health is on the line. So if someone is saying they’re in the hospital and there’s something moving in food, I absolutely think there’s accountability that should be taken and it’s something that you can learn from it,” Lee said.
He added that he didn’t agree with the restaurant’s explanation that it was just the way he was holding the sushi with the chopsticks that made it look like a worm was coming out.
“Never once have I seen sushi behaving that way,” Lee said. “…It was nothing that I did on my end.”
“As a customer I shouldn’t be the one getting blamed for if there was something moving in the food,” he added.
Lee went on to say that he understands that there is risk associated with eating raw food, but wishes the restaurant took more accountability.
FOB Sushi Bar shuts down
A few hours after Lee’s second video went up, FOB Sushi Bar issued another statement. They’d be shutting down two of their locations “until further notice.”
“Your health and safety are our highest priorities. We are consulting a thorough investigation to address the situation and will take all necessary measures to prevent it from happening again,” the statement read.
Timeline of events:
- Nov. 10: Keith Lee posts a review of FOB Sushi Bar
- Nov. 15: FOB Sushi Bar makes its first statement defending their fish quality
- Nov. 16: Customer posts video of girlfriend hospitalized after eating at the sushi restaurant
- Nov. 17: Keith Lee addresses hospitalization and responds to FOB Sushi Bar’s statement
- Later Nov. 17/Early Nov. 18: FOB Sushi Bar states they are shutting down two of their locations pending an internal investigation
Was it really a worm in the sushi?
As it turns out, they’re not worms, but likely parasites.
A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a plant or animal (the host). They get all of their nutrients by leeching them from the host. Since they need their host for survival, they rarely kill it, but they do often carry life-threatening diseases, the Cleveland Clinic reports.
“Classically, wild-caught fish could have issues with live parasites,” Matthew Stasiewicz, associate professor of applied food safety at the University of Illinois, told the Kitchn. “That [is] part of the risk associated with sushi.”
Eating raw or undercooked fish with parasites can lead to a host of side effects. This includes diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, fever, and chills. Depending on the type of parasite you contract, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics, antiparasitic drugs, shampoo, or ointment.
Natural remedies involve beets, carrots, fiber, raw garlic, honey, pumpkin seeds, vitamin C, and drinking a whole lotta water.
According to the Daily Mail, worm reports in sushi are rare in the U.S. Only about 10 annually are reported.
What is sushi-grade fish?
The fish at the restaurant was presumably sushi-grade, however there is no official standard in the United States for what that means.
The term usually means that the fish was bled after being caught, gutted soon after, iced, and then frozen to minimize the risk of parasites and bacteria like salmonella and listeria, Alaskan Gold Brand explained.
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate the term “sushi-grade,” it does have guidelines for properly handling fish for raw consumption. To get the “Parasite Destruction Guarantee,” most fish must be frozen to either of the following after being caught, as listed by the Webstaurant Store:
- Freezing and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time)
- Freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours
- Freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours
The Daily Dot reached out to Rivera for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message, to Keith Lee via email, and to FOB Sushi Bar via Instagram direct message.
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