I’m 5.5 weeks pregnant. How careful should I be about sushi?
—Christina
Sushi is one of the long list of pregnancy food restrictions — raw eggs, unwashed vegetables, deli meats, and on and on. What we don’t ever seem to get told is why. Is sushi off-limits for the same reason deli meat is? Beyond this, are the risks to the baby or to me, or both? These questions drove me crazy when I was pregnant and were a big part of the motivation for Expecting Better.
In the case of sushi, the main concern is that raw fish could carry two particular bacteria: salmonella or campylobacter.
These are both things that you want to avoid — they can definitely make you sick — but they are not especially dangerous in pregnancy. Both bacteria cause basic stomach-flu symptoms: diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Unless you are very lucky or have a stomach made of iron, you have probably been sickened by one of these before. It’s unpleasant, sure. But illnesses from these causes are not especially more likely during pregnancy, nor do they typically directly affect the fetus (there is actually one variant of the salmonella bacteria that can pass to the fetus, but it’s not one that we have in the United States).
Beyond a little added caution, things that are restricted due to these bugs shouldn’t really be completely off your list during pregnancy. That includes sushi. Eating sushi from the gas station is not recommended — but that’s true for everyone, not just pregnant women.
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The other possible concern for sushi is if it is made with fish high in methylmercury (a developmental toxin), such as ahi tuna. But then the advice for pregnant women (or those planning on becoming pregnant) should be to avoid fish that is high in methylmercury, not avoid sushi all together (some sushi has no fish or fish low in methylmercury, such as salmon).