Sushi Health Danger #1 : Escolar. Don’t be lured by the innocuous sounding “butterfish”or “white tuna” on the menu. Escolar has been banned in Japan since 1977 and is also banned in Italy. Why? This delicious snake mackerel cannot metabolize the was esters naturally found in its diet. While this poses no problem for the fish, it can cause very unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms in humans (called “keriorrhea”).

Sushi Health Danger #2: Eel. Steer clear of the barbecued eel. There are dangers of consuming farmed fish. And eel is always farmed. What’s more, it is primarily farmed in China. (Taiwan is the world’s leading eel producer.) And in China, toxic nitrofuran a powerful carcinogen and many other drugs and pesticides are used to reduce the spread of disease in stagnating, overcrowded, murky pens, Not too appetizing, is it?

Sushi Health Danger #3: Carbon monoxide. With its appetizing hue, sushi tuna(ahi) is hard to resist. The fish must be really fresh to have such a bright shade of red. Right?

Not exactly. It is treated with carbon monoxide ‘the gas that streams from the tailpipe of your car’ and is deadly when inhaled. When applied to tuna, it reacts with the hem proteins in the fish, imparting the cherry color.

Avoid sushi tuna. While the coloring process may be considered safe by industry standards, there’s no long-term evidence that it is. And if carbon monoxide is deadly when you breathe it in, that certainly is enough to raise an eyebrow if not a red flag.