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Can I eat cooked sushi while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Sushi with cooked fillings, such as shrimp tempura, grilled eel or cooked salmon rolls, shows Check in Doola Scan in all six countries, for the weekly amount of fish. The NHS lists sushi made with cooked fish or cooked shellfish among the foods you can have in pregnancy. A California roll shows Check in the US, UK and Canada and Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, because its imitation crab is cold ready-to-eat seafood. Australia and New Zealand also advise against shop-bought sushi of any kind.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Rolls with cooked fillings: shrimp tempura, eel (unagi) or cooked salmon

    CheckIn all six countries

  • California roll, with imitation crab

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaAvoidAustraliaNew ZealandIreland
Doola Scan checking a plate
What each country says

Cooked sushi while pregnant: what each country says.

Each country's own pregnancy guidance on cooked sushi, with a link to it. Doola Scan uses your country's first.

  • United States

    Check
    • FDAFish is recommended but amounts limit mercury exposure.Source
    • FDAEat 2 to 3 servings (4 oz each) a week from Best Choices (salmon, sardines, herring, Atlantic mackerel); king mackerel is avoid.Source
    • FDAPreviously cooked seafood is lower risk when reheated to 165°F; partially cooked shrimp and crab are higher risk.Source
    Sushi with raw fish
    • FDAPregnant people should avoid raw fish, partially cooked seafood and refrigerated smoked seafood.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)Avoid raw sushi, sashimi and ceviche; cook seafood to 145°F.Source
    Nori, the seaweed wrap
    • MotherToBabyVery high iodine from diet alone is unlikely unless high-iodine foods such as seaweed are eaten very often.Source

  • United Kingdom

    Check
    • NHSTrying for a baby or pregnant: max 2 oily fish portions (140g) a week; tuna max 4 cans or 2 steaks a week.Source
    • NHSOily fish can contain pollutants that build up in the body.Source
    • NHSChilled ready-to-eat seafood can carry listeria.Source
    Sushi with raw fish
    • NHSRaw fish can carry listeria and parasites.Source

  • Canada

    Check
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury fish encouraged with no weekly amount; limit only fresh/frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy, escolar.Source
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury oily fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, trout) encouraged; no weekly cap.Source
    Sushi with raw fish
    • CPSAvoid raw fish in pregnancy.Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid raw seafood such as sushi; cook seafood to 74 °C (165 °F).Source

  • Australia

    • Rolls with cooked fillings: shrimp tempura, eel (unagi) or cooked salmonCheck
    • California roll, with imitation crabAvoid
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Other fish or seafood no more than 2 to 3 times a week (150 g serve).Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Fish not high in mercury no more than 2 to 3 times a week; no separate oily-fish limit.Source
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat ready-to-eat chilled peeled prawns.Source
    • NSW HealthDo not eat chilled ready-to-eat prawns.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Do not eat pre-cooked prawns.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid cooked, chilled seafood such as peeled prawns unless cooked again.Source
    • FSANZAvoid chilled cooked prawns; eat freshly cooked or reheated steaming hot.Source
    Sushi with raw fish
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid sashimi and sushi.Source
    • FSANZAvoid raw/chilled RTE seafood: oysters, sushi, sashimi, ceviche. PBB: safest sushi is homemade.Source
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat store-bought sushi; home-made without raw fish is OK.Source
    • NSW HealthDo not eat raw seafood.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)No raw or ready-to-eat fish such as sashimi and sushi.Source
    Nori, the seaweed wrap
    • FSANZNo more than one serve a week of brown seaweed.Source

  • New Zealand

    • Rolls with cooked fillings: shrimp tempura, eel (unagi) or cooked salmonCheck
    • California roll, with imitation crabAvoid
    • Health NZMost commonly eaten NZ fish can be eaten freely; low-mercury species need no restriction.Source
    • Health NZNo pollutant-based oily fish cap; farmed salmon and mackerel 3-4 servings a week, sardines and anchovy unrestricted.Source
    • Health NZAvoid cooked ready-to-eat prawns.Source
    Sushi with raw fish
    • Health NZUnsafe for pregnant people: raw oysters, sashimi, sushi and other chilled seafood.Source
    Nori, the seaweed wrap
    • Health NZBrown seaweed limited to 1 serve a week; nori and other red/green seaweed OK; no label criterion.Source

  • Ireland

    • Rolls with cooked fillings: shrimp tempura, eel (unagi) or cooked salmonCheck
    • California roll, with imitation crabAvoid
    • HSEAvoid clams, oysters, scallops, prawns, mussels - risk highest if pre-cooked.Source
    Sushi with raw fish
    • HSEAvoid raw or smoked fish, including sushi.Source
What to check

Before you eat cooked sushi.

  1. In the US, UK and Canada, choose rolls where every filling is cooked

    The NHS lists sushi made with cooked fish or cooked shellfish among the foods you can have, and sushi made with raw fish, even if previously frozen, as a food to avoid. FoodSafety.gov asks pregnant women to avoid raw sushi and sashimi. NHS

  2. In Australia and New Zealand, make it at home

    NSW Food Authority says not to eat store-bought sushi in pregnancy, and that home-made sushi without raw fish is OK. Health NZ lists sushi among chilled seafood not to eat in pregnancy. NSW Food Authority

  3. In Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, skip cold imitation crab

    Doola Scan reads imitation crab with the guidance on chilled ready-to-eat seafood: Health NZ advises against cooked ready-to-eat prawns, and the HSE says the risk from shellfish is highest if it is pre-cooked. That is why a California roll shows Avoid in these three. HSE

  4. Count the fish in your week

    The FDA asks pregnant women to eat 2 to 3 servings a week from its Best Choices, which include shrimp and salmon. A few rolls with cooked fish count towards that. FDA

Questions

About cooked sushi
in pregnancy.

Rolls with cooked fillings show Check in Doola Scan in all six countries, and the NHS lists sushi made with cooked fish among the foods you can have. In Australia and New Zealand, the guidance also asks about where it was made: NSW Food Authority says not to eat store-bought sushi.

A California roll shows Check in the US, UK and Canada and Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Doola Scan reads its imitation crab as cold ready-to-eat seafood, which the guidance of those three countries advises against. A roll with only cucumber and avocado has no seafood to check.

A shrimp tempura roll shows Check in all six countries. The shrimp is cooked in batter, and the FDA lists shrimp among its Best Choices, so the check is how much fish you eat that week.

Eel in sushi is normally grilled unagi, so it is cooked fish, and an eel roll shows Check in all six countries. Health NZ puts eel among the fish that need no mercury limit in pregnancy.

Doola Scan reads the word sushi on its own as raw fish, which is on every country's avoid list. Scan or search the roll by its filling, such as shrimp tempura or eel, so it can read what is in it.

Nori shows Check in all six countries, for iodine. Health NZ says nori and other red or green seaweeds are OK, and limits brown seaweeds such as kelp to one serve a week.

The guidance is the same in every trimester. Rolls with cooked fillings show Check from the first weeks of pregnancy to the last, and the advice on raw fish applies all the way through.

Yes. Take a photo of the menu or the tray, and Doola Scan checks each roll's fillings against your country's pregnancy guidance, raw or cooked. Food scans are free, 3 a day.
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Point Doola at a plate, a menu or a label. It checks every ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance and shows its sources. Food scans are free, 3 a day.

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Doola shows what official guidance says; it never diagnoses. No known issues means none of these countries' pregnancy guidance names it, not a promise that a food is safe.