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We got 2 tuna steaks from a grocery store, and we are pretty sure they they are NOT sushi grade. We cooked them tonight for a bit, and left the middle of the steak pretty rare.
How safe is this? I should've asked this question before cooking obviously but hindsight is 20-20. Everything I have read on other sites states that there is "some" risk of parasites but it's hard to get a straight answer as to how safe this food was. We got the stakes at our local H-mart, an Asian market.
Relevant US and Canadian food authorities all recommend that undercooked (i.e. seared but red in the middle) tuna should only be eaten if it was properly deep-frozen to kill any parasites first. And even that isn't completely risk-free.
Studies of the current tuna supply shows it to be widely infected with parasites, to the point that the majority of tuna you're likely to buy had at least one parasite that could affect your health. Most of the time, though, health effects are mild (although uncomfortable at the time).
However, most tuna is flash-frozen at sea when caught, whether sold as "fresh" or not. As such, your odds of getting tuna with viable parasites is still low, whether or not it's labelled "sushi-grade". In my non-expert opinion, you're more at risk from bacterial contamination introduced at the grocery store than you are from fish parasites.
NON SUSHI GRADE Tuna is OK to eat tune blue-rare, but salmon is best rare-medium rare and white fish should be cooked medium-well done. All fish is safe to eat COMPLETLY raw if it is sushi grade.
