sushi when pregnant - what's cooked? what's safe?

[Anonymous]

I'm desperate for some sushi. What's cooked?

Here's what I already know is cooked:

shrimp
california rolls

what else? I'm starving for sushi. Please help. Anti-sushi people please do refrain from reprimanding me. I'm huge. I'm pregnant and all I want is sushi.

[Anonymous]

I think eel roll is cooked. At any rate, I had tons of it when I was pregnant...

[bettie]

eel!

obviosuly veggie rolls (i love the yellow radish...) not sure what else...i am thinking...when i was pregnant, i ate lots of sushi because i craved it the whole time. i had lots of shrimp tempura rolls, california rolls, eel, spider rolls...i snuck a little salmon and yellowtail from a place i trust.

enjoy!!! just eat from a place u trust

[Anonymous]

The sushi sold at Whole Foods marked either "raw" or "cooked." Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Raku in Bethesda has a great selection of cooked rolls, including a duck roll if you like that.

I too have had some raw rolls while pregnant from reputable places with no ill effects. I love spicy crunchy rolls soooo much!

Soft shell crab rolls are also cooked as are the crab/lobster salad rolls. Any "tempura" roll will be cooked.

[Anonymous]

I think when I was preggers we called Tako Grill and asked them to walk through with us what was cooked, and they were happy to do it. Eel and tuna can be cooked or uncooked, depends on which one you order. Oh and we did rely on the Whole Foods "cooked" and "raw" labels too.

[Anonymous]

Moby Dick in Wheaton will told me they could cook rolls for me when I was PG - I would just ask the sushi place you go to what they can cook and would still be yummy!

[Anonymous]

Sushi includes anything with rice, it does not mean raw fish. The term is commonly misused by Americans. Sushi can be raw or cooked; sashimi is raw.

During my first pregnancy I ate sushi and sashimi about twice a month with no adverse effects. And I am now doing the same with my second. For the sashimi, I avoided any fish that was known to have high levels of mercury. That was the only rule I followed. The reason people say not to eat susho is the risk of listeria, but only about 2500 people in the US a year get it and mostly they get it from cold cuts and processed meats like hot dogs. Check out the CDC website. I searched and searched and could not find one case of sashimi-induced listeriosis. Of course there is a risk, but risks are everywhere. I advise educating yourself on the true nature of the risk and then making a decision on what to avoid while pregnant keeping in mind that many of the taboos are cultural.

Any reputable sushi place can tell you which of their options are cooked and which are not.

[Anonymous]

As long as you get your sushi and sashimi from a reputable restaurant that is busy and has lots of turnover of the food so it's not sitting around, you are probably fine to eat sushi for all the reasons the previous poster said. I just wouldn't get sushi at the mall food court, but I would get it at Sushi Taro, Makoto, Sushi-Ko, Matuba, or any of the really good sushi/Japanese restaurants in this area.

[Anonymous]

I don't know this for sure, but is listeria the potential problem with uncooked fish? I didn't think that was a common problem,...

I think I have heard, that sashimi (raw fish) is really unlikely to pose a problem to pregnant women, especially if you're eating it at a reputable place.

It would be interesting to know if all the women in Japan avoid it when they're pregnant...

[Anonymous]

That was always my rational for eating it while pregnant (did a whole country of pregnant women *really* stop eating sushi?) Plus my doc was like, "please. do you really think greeks stop eating feta, french people stop eating brie, and japanese women don't eat sushi? just don't go out trying to become a conniseure while pregnant!"

Love that Dr. Engel

[Anonymous]

That's what Dr Engel said to me too: eat sushi as you like!! I could kiss the man. I do make sure that I am not eating too much tuna because of the mercury level but all other sushi is mine!!

Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

You can also get Hepatitis A from eating sushi, and it's not a rare occurance. I know it's fairly not a big deal for adults but I wonder what it would do to a fetus. There's tons of articles verifying this -- Google it to find out.

And it's not about it being "clean" from a place you trust, but rather it's IN the fish.

[Anonymous]

The NYT ran an artcile a month or so ago about Sushi and pregnancy. The Japanese think we are crazy not to eat Sushi while pregnant b/c it has so many good nutrients. That is apparently all they eat while pregnant. So go figure.