Can you eat sushi while pregnant?

What to avoid

• Level E FDA: Raw or undercooked fish or shellfish, or food containing raw or undercooked seafood (for example, sashimi) found in some sushi or ceviche. (FDA list of foods for at-risk groups to avoid: pregnant women, children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems) FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E ACOG: You should also avoid raw fish and shellfish, including sushi. Raw fish has a higher risk of making you sick. ACOG, Nutrition During Pregnancy (FAQ), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Raw or undercooked fish, such as sashimi, non-vegetarian sushi, or ceviche. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Higher Risk (table cell)) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FoodSafety.gov: Raw seafood may contain parasites or germs, including Listeria, that can make pregnant women sick and could potentially harm their babies. FoodSafety.gov, People at Risk: Pregnant Women, accessed 2026-10-12

Safer choices and when it is OK

• Level E FDA: Fully cooked fish that is firm and flaky. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Lower Risk) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12

How to cook or handle it

• Level E FoodSafety.gov: All seafood dishes should be cooked to 145°F (63°C). FoodSafety.gov, People at Risk: Pregnant Women, accessed 2026-10-12

Why the advice exists

• Level E FDA: However, be aware that freezing doesn't kill all harmful germs. That's why the safest route is to cook your seafood. FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, accessed 2026-10-12

Word-for-word quotes from official US sources. Level E means the position of an expert body. How we grade evidence.

• Level C Pooling 14,496 samples, a meta-analysis found Listeria monocytogenes in 5.8% of raw fish and 14.5% of ready-to-eat fish products. Sci Total Environ, 2024
• Level C In a 2024 hepatitis A outbreak in Curitiba, Brazil, eating raw fish was linked to 2.54 times higher odds of infection in a case-control study of 242 people. Epidemiol Serv Saude, 2026
• Level C The USDA systematic review of seafood in pregnancy found that most studies did not separate seafood types, so tuna cannot be judged apart from other fish. USDA NESR, Seafood Consumption during Pregnancy and Lactation and Neurocognitive Development in the Child, 2020
• Level C In a survey of 81 pregnant Australian women, 96.0% of those aware of listeriosis advice cut down or avoided raw fish, one of the high-risk listeriosis foods, compared with 69.2% of those unaware. Women Birth, 2019

Levels: A is a meta-analysis of trials, B a randomized trial, C an observational study, D lab or animal work, E an expert position. How we grade evidence.

The risk is the raw fish, not the rice. Pooling 14,496 samples, a meta-analysis found Listeria in 5.8% of raw fish and 14.5% of ready-to-eat fish products (Level C). Finding Listeria in a sample is not the same as getting sick, but FoodSafety.gov says germs in raw seafood can make pregnant women sick and could potentially harm the baby.

That still leaves things to order. Going by FDA's chart, choose rolls made only with vegetables or fully cooked seafood. Smoked salmon does not count as cooked: the same chart lists refrigerated smoked seafood as higher risk. Ask how the fish was prepared if the menu does not say.

Fish itself stays on the menu when it is cooked. FoodSafety.gov says all seafood dishes should be cooked to 145°F (63°C). FDA adds that freezing does not kill all harmful germs, so raw fish that was frozen first is still raw fish.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level C Pooling 14,496 samples, a meta-analysis found Listeria monocytogenes in 5.8% of raw fish and 14.5% of ready-to-eat fish products. Sci Total Environ, 2024

Written from the agency positions and data on this page, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

• Sushi: what the research says