Tracey,

I'm in total agreement with you. Visible worms are not normal in sushi. I'm a big fan of sushi and have looked into the parasite, bacteria issue with Sushi a while ago when Japanese cuisine caught my palette.

Fresh fish and what you posted is correct. The wasabi and the vinegar dressing used during the preparation of the sushi rice are used also for anti-bacterial/ parasite reasons. The pickled ginger, is mainly used to clear the palate between different food types, but also has anti-bacterial properties. The miso soup is a macrobiotic food and uses a fermented soybean paste as a base. All the seaweed in the soup, nori, etc also acts a filter and toxin trap and is excreted during elimination. Seaweed, to my understanding is filter in the sea. They are harvested and washed and "cleared" before it becomes food grade. Green tea that normally accompanies a Japanese meal is also beneficial.

Most Japanese noodles are not made from nutritionless flour but normally from buckwheat and other whole grain wheat sources. Have a look at the ingredients of any Japanese noodle package.

Also, the reputation of the whole restaurant is at stake, if they are serving "bad" food. The only thing that comes to mind that may be "bad" for you is large portions of Tempura because of the fried batter. However, a finer establishment that prides in quality food and service would be using a better oil recipe.

Proper oil recipe for Tempura uses a sesame oil as a base, with various mixtures of soybean oil, rapseed oil or another "light" oil such as (vegetable or safflower oil).

I would suspect that lower end establishments would just use vegetable oil.

Cleanser, I'd go for it, but as Tracey suggests, in moderation.