Can Kids Eat Sushi?

Cuisine / By

Sushi is an extremely popular dish that has roots in oriental cuisine. It has grown in popularity for many years now and with little wonder. Sushi is a delicious raw fish delicacy that truly makes your mouth water. 

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But is this delectable food safe food for kids to eat?

Can Kids Eat Sushi

The short answer is yes. But as with many things, the answer is not as simple as yes or no. In this article, we are going to talk about the reasoning behind this answer and why sushi may or may not be safe for kids to consume.

So, without further ado, let us get started!

What Is Sushi?

Before we can delve into whether sushi is okay for kids to eat or not we need to talk about what exactly this food is. Sushi is a Japanese dish that usually features seafood, raw or cooked fish, rice, and vegetables. 

While fish may seem like the star of the show in sushi the most important ingredient is actually the carefully seasoned and vinegared rice. This is what the name ‘sushi’ is actually referencing.

So, regardless of what you put in your sushi, it must always have rice to be sushi. But as a general rule sushi will include some type of raw fish and rarely cooked fish.

To make things easier to understand when considering the ingredients of sushi, let us take a closer look at a few of the more popular varieties of sushi: 

Nigiri

This type of sushi is typically described as sushi rice with a topping of raw fish or other seafood. This type of sushi is ideal for those of you that want to enjoy the flavor of the fish along with rice, fish, and other toppings. 

Sashimi

If you love the taste of fish you will enjoy sashimi. This type of sushi is typically just raw fish or other seafood that is served without rice.

Maki

This type of sushi is rice and toppings like fish that have been wrapped in seaweed. Maki is the sushi you think of when you imagine what a sushi roll looks like. 

Uramaki

Uramaki is similar to Maki, but the rice will be on the outside instead of the seaweed. This type of sushi can have a great many sauces and is one of the more popular types of sushi.

Temaki

This type of sushi will include rice, fish, and any other topping. The defining feature of temaki is the fact that it has been rolled into a cone-like shape by hand. 

Why Might Sushi Be Unsafe For Kids?

Sushi is actually incredibly healthy and contains all kinds of healthy minerals and vitamins that would be beneficial for children. The fish itself is usually lean and full of omega-3 fatty acids.

On top of the fish, there are usually healthy vegetables in sushi like avocado which is also healthy for children to consume. 

The main thing you need to be aware of with children eating sushi is that raw fish or shellfish can be easily contaminated which can cause sickness to occur in both adults and children.

On top of being easily contaminated raw fish and shellfish can be unsafe for immature or compromised digestive systems and cause sickness. For this reason, it is safer to hold your children back from eating sushi or any raw fish until they are older. 

Can Kids Eat Sushi (1)

Tips On How Can You Make Sushi Safe?

So sushi is generally considered a safe food for children to eat but it can make you sick if your digestive system is not fully developed or it is compromised. But what can you do to make consuming sushi safer? 

Below are four tips that you can follow to assure that your child will be safe: 

Tip 1 – One thing that you will need to bear in mind is that you should limit the sushi your child eats to varieties that are low in mercury. This is because too much mercury can have detrimental effects on the development of a child’s developing nervous system. For this reason, it is recommended to limit their intake of fish like bigeye, shark, tuna, king mackerel, salmon, and crab. 

Tip 2 – The most dangerous raw seafood that you can eat is shellfish. For this reason, it is not recommended to give your kids this type of seafood, especially in a raw form. This is because it can very easily become contaminated and therefore can have higher risks of carrying foodborne illnesses. 

Tip 3 – If you are afraid that your child may not enjoy the taste of sushi we recommend that you give them vegetarian options so that you can discern whether they will like the other ingredients. This also gives them a way to be involved with the meal while still staying safe from potential issues they may have with eating raw fish. 

Tip 4 – Contracting hepatitis A from eating fish is extremely rare but it is not unheard of. For this reason, we highly recommend that your child gets a vaccination for hepatitis A to reduce the risk of them contracting it should there be a freak chance that the fish they eat contains this disease. 

Final Thoughts 

We hope that you have enjoyed reading about whether kids can eat sushi or not.

To recap, it is generally considered safe for them to consume but it is recommended that you stay clear of fish like salmon, tuna, and several other fish that are high in mercury or particularly at risk of being contaminated.

If all fails you can also try giving them a vegetarian option to see if they like the general taste of sushi without risking the raw fish. 

We hope that this has been an interesting article for you to read and we will see you next time! Goodbye for now!

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