In Japan, There’s Now Sushi That’s Safe For Pregnant Woman

By Mikelle Leow, 20 Oct 2022

Pregnancy cravings are real, but the worst part is that you can’t always have what you’re hankering for (this writer, for one, can’t imagine getting by a day without coffee).

Sushi is a big thing in Japan, so watching their loved ones bite into those delicate morsels of fish and rice might be too much for expectant mothers to bear. A crowdfunding campaign was even launched to finally develop sushi that pregnant women can eat, and that reached 1,113% of its goal—alluding to how much mothers-to-be want their fish and eat it too.

The result of the initiative is Kanetsu Sushi, a safe-to-consume sushi set developed by a sushi chef, an obstetrician, and a gynecologist. Kanetsu is the Japanese word for “heated.”

And, no, this isn’t just cooked fish on rice. To create each box of Kanetsu Sushi, chefs handpick sashimi-grade fish from the market, then heat them until the middle reaches an optimal 75°C (167°F) for over a minute to limit the chances of food poisoning.

Next, the sushi goes through a quick freeze in a liquid-based freezer. This is for two reasons: the first is to prevent bacterial growth, and the other is to retain the freshness of the fish without too many ice crystals forming.

The Kanetsu Sushi team says it worked on 100 prototypes before perfecting its technique. As the saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea…

Each box comes with nine bites, and they’re topped with salmon, sea bream, shrimp, amberjack, saltwater eel, blackthroat seaperch with sea urchin, scallop, squid, and an omelet.

Since expectant mothers deserve all the good things for carrying an actual human in their bodies for nine months, even the packaging is meticulously designed so the morsels don’t get crushed during delivery. The indentations are perfectly molded to ensure each piece of sushi sits snugly in place.