A sushi restaurant in Washington was forced to shut down "indefinitely" after social media users claimed that viral food influencer Keith Lee ate a parasite.
Fob Sushi Bar shut down two locations in Seattle and Bellevue over "recent food safety concerns," according to a Monday Instagram post.
The sushi restaurant had initially denied claims that there were "worms" in their food on Saturday after social media users slowed down Lee's video of him trying the food, which appears to show something wiggling in the sushi. However, the issued the statement regarding their closure after a woman was reportedly hospitalized after eating at the restaurant.
@keith_lee125 💕 Keith Speaks 💕 God Is Amazing 🙏🏽 #foodcritic
♬ original sound - Keith Lee
"We went to a place called Fob Sushi in Seattle the other day. Someone slowed the video down and it did appear like something moved. One-thousand percent transparency, I didn't see anything until somebody pointed it out. I can't confirm or deny what it was, but I can confirm that I am OK," Lee said in a TikTok responding to the situation.
"Only reason I'm making this video is because I just saw a video of somebody who went the day after us, and now they [are] hospitalized," Lee continued. "I send my heart and my blessings to that person that is in the hospital. And I've already said this a thousand times — I don't believe in tearing down any business. But at the same time, people's health is on the line."
In the restaurant's initial Saturday statement, they claimed that the mysterious movement in the sushi was due to "natural elasticity of the fish." However, Lee said that he did not agree with that.
"I've had sushi a thousand times and I've held sushi a thousand different ways, and never once have I seen sushi behaving like that," Lee said. "Again, that's not me saying it was a worm or a parasite. I'm just saying that it was nothing on my end."
@keith_lee125 Fob Sushi taste test 💕 would you try it 💕 #foodcritic
♬ original sound - Keith Lee
Lee has become well known on TikTok for doing honest food reviews of locally owned restaurants around the country. In the original TikTok of Lee reviewing Fob Sushi, which has since garnered more than 20 million views, he called the restaurant "heaven."
"At the end of the day, it's sushi, it's raw fish. There is risk and there's stuff that comes with eating raw food and I understand that fully. I just personally wish that they would come out and be more accountable about it," Lee said in the TikTok posted prior to the restaurant's closure notice.
"Your health and safety are our highest priorities. We are conducting a thorough investigation to address the situation and will take all necessary measures to prevent it from happening again." Fob Sushi wrote. "To our community, we are deeply grateful for your years of support and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We remain dedicated to providing you with the highest quality sushi."
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