Cooked sushi alternatives during pregnancy

How do the options compare?

Rolls are sorted by the mercury tier of whatever is inside them, measured against a weekly ounce budget, with the ready-to-eat seafood category handled on its own terms.

• For pregnancy, one serving of fish is 4 ounces, and the advice is two to three servings a week from the Best Choices list, which includes salmon, shrimp, crab, cod, sardine, scallop, and tilapia. 1
• Most seafood should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, and without a thermometer the markers are flesh that turns clear and separates easily with a fork, or shrimp, scallops, crab, and lobster that turn firm, pearly, and opaque. 2
• The fish to leave off entirely are bigeye tuna, shark, king mackerel, swordfish, marlin, tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico, and orange roughy, with total intake capped around 12 ounces a week. 3
• Children born to women who ate fish during pregnancy have shown higher IQ levels in studies, which suggests the nutrients in seafood offset mercury concerns at normal intake levels. 3
• Refrigerated ready-to-eat seafood is a recognized Listeria risk food in pregnancy, yet only 6% of practitioners in one survey counseled patients about it, the lowest counseling rate of any risk food studied. 4

Which option makes sense?

Cooking settles the raw-fish question, and what remains is a mercury-tier decision inside a 12 ounce weekly budget, plus keeping refrigerated smoked seafood off the order.

Disclosure: Pregnancy Smart makes pregnancy supplements, though not in this category. This comparison is a plain description of the pregnancy evidence, not a sales page.