Formed in 2024, the National Fisheries Institute Sushi Council is a pre-competitive stakeholder group made up of fish farmers, harvesters, processors, distributors and end-users at retail and foodservice. We work across the world to enhance sushi product integrity and promote industry-led food safety.
Food safety and labelling standards are essential for facilitating international trade and building consumer trust. Traceability is also becoming increasingly important within a global seafood market, as governments and consumers demand greater transparency from the industry. We are, therefore, leading the sushi industry in sharing and championing safety and labelling practices that enable us all to proudly and confidently share the origin story of our products throughout the value chain and with consumers.
Led by a steering committee of industry and technical personnel, we are convening industry-led discussions at major global seafood events like the Global Seafood Market Conference and the Seafood Expo North America, to encourage as much industry participation as possible in the Council’s development of safety and labeling guidance. We also create and curate resources for the proper sourcing and handling of sushi and sashimi products. Check out our comprehensive resources page here.
The safety and integrity of sushi ingredients are essential for all businesses in the supply chain, as sushi products include high-risk ingredients such as raw fish and cooked rice.
Click on the graphic below to learn more about what food safety protocols your business needs to follow to keep sushi safe, straight, and moving.
Whether you’re farming or harvesting, processing, distributing, or serving up sushi products to customers, you can find all the guidance and resources you need here to keep sushi safe, straight, and moving.
Keeping the consumer safe is the Council’s highest priority followed soon after by maintaining consumer trust. We know that consumers will categorically avoid items associated with food safety concerns, and sushi, often eaten raw, could easily see its reputation damaged after an incident. That’s why the Council provides as many resources as possible on industry-wide best practices for the proper transportation, receiving, handling, and preparation of sushi and sashimi products.
As sushi continues to rise in popularity and experience increased consumption across the world, product integrity is the number-one concern. As sushi is primarily eaten raw, consumers are demanding a high level of sourcing scrutiny and safe handling for all sushi products.
Keeping consumers safe and building trust in sushi products are the Council’s top priorities. We know that food safety concerns will cause consumers to avoid products and sushi could easily see its reputation damaged by a safety scare. That’s why the Council provides as many resources as possible on industry-wide best practices for the proper transportation, receiving, handling and preparation of sushi and sashimi products.
The correct labeling of seafood species in sushi products is vital to maintaining a transparent and trustworthy supply chain. The Council takes a stand against species substitution through industry education on acceptable market names and labeling conventions.
In addition, product claims such as sushi or sashimi ‘grade’ cause consumer and marketplace confusion as these classifications have no regulatory standing or industry consensus, and their use, without clear definition, could lead to food safety and quality issues. Therefore, the Council works to establish systems that better ensure the proper menuing of species and product labeling standardization.
Featuring a countless variety of species and preparations, sushi meets a vast range of taste preferences, providing a perfect entry point into the seafood category and driving seafood sales. Sushi’s inherent creativity and ever-evolving style continues to draw in new users with no limit in sight. To maintain this momentum, the Council works to keep promoting sushi as far, as wide and as innovatively as possible.