Food-safety controls for sushi, sashimi and raw fish.
Serving raw or lightly cooked fish needs controls beyond ordinary chilled storage. UK food businesses need to manage parasite risks such as Anisakis, verify suitable sourcing and treatment, examine fish for visible parasites, prevent contamination and retain useful traceability evidence.
Practical guidance from TKEG (The Kitchen Efficiency Group), built around everyday UK hospitality compliance and kitchen operations.
Why raw fish needs specific controls
Fish intended to be eaten raw or only lightly cooked can create hazards that are not controlled by a normal final cooking step. One important hazard is Anisakis, a food-borne parasite associated with finfish and cephalopod molluscs such as squid.
A sushi or sashimi process should therefore be covered by the business food-safety management system, with controls that reflect the species, source, treatment, preparation method and intended service.
What is Anisakis?
Anisakis is a parasitic worm that can infect fish and squid. Eating contaminated seafood can cause illness and, in some people, allergic reactions.
The Food Standards Agency requires fishery products to be visually examined for parasites before they are placed on the market. Fish that are obviously contaminated with parasites must not be supplied for human consumption. Visual examination is an important control, but for fish intended to be eaten raw or insufficiently cooked it may need to work alongside an appropriate parasite-destruction treatment.
Does fish for sushi or sashimi need to be frozen?
Fishery products intended to be eaten raw, or where the treatment is insufficient to destroy viable parasites, can be subject to specific freezing requirements. The exact requirement depends on the product and the legal conditions applying to it.
Do not rely on a generic kitchen rule or assume that buying fish labelled as fresh means it is suitable for raw service. The business should know whether the required parasite treatment has already been carried out by the supplier or whether it must be controlled by the kitchen. Some defined exemptions can apply where the relevant conditions and evidence are met, so supplier documentation matters.
Keep evidence from the supplier
A restaurant serving raw fish should be able to identify its supplier and understand the treatment status of relevant products. Supplier declarations, invoices, product specifications, batch details and treatment information can help show whether the fish is suitable for its intended use.
If the kitchen cannot establish that a product is appropriate for raw or lightly cooked service, it should not simply assume that it is safe because the species is commonly used for sushi.
Visual examination still matters
Fishery products must be checked for visible parasites. Examination should take place under suitable conditions and staff responsible for the process should understand what they are looking for and what to do if parasites are seen.
A visibly affected product should be rejected or removed from human consumption as appropriate. Removing one visible worm does not automatically prove the rest of a heavily affected product is suitable.
Control temperature from delivery to service
Raw fish is also a highly perishable food. Maintain appropriate chilled or frozen controls from receipt through storage, preparation and service, and follow supplier instructions and the business food-safety system.
Temperature control does not replace parasite treatment and parasite treatment does not replace chilled-food hygiene. These are separate controls addressing different hazards.
Prevent contamination during sushi preparation
Ready-to-eat sushi and sashimi can be contaminated by hands, equipment, raw ingredients or the preparation environment. Use effective separation, hand hygiene, clean utensils, suitable food-contact surfaces and cleaning and disinfection procedures.
Pay particular attention where the same kitchen also handles raw poultry, raw meat or other ingredients that could introduce additional pathogens into a ready-to-eat sushi process.
Rice and other ingredients need their own controls
Sushi safety is not only about fish. Cooked rice needs a safe cooling, holding and storage method, while ingredients such as egg, shellfish, vegetables, sauces and garnishes each bring their own hazards and allergen considerations.
The TKEG cooked-rice guide covers Bacillus cereus controls. The allergen guide covers the wider information and cross-contact duties for ingredients including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, sesame, soy and egg.
Traceability matters if a problem is found later
Keep enough supplier and product information to identify affected fish quickly if there is a supplier alert, parasite issue, withdrawal or recall. Batch, lot or consignment information can be particularly useful where it is available.
The purpose is to make a targeted response possible rather than trying to reconstruct the supply chain after the product has already been served.
Corrective action when controls fail
If treatment status cannot be verified, visible parasites are found, refrigeration fails, contamination may have occurred or traceability is missing, stop and assess the affected food before continuing service.
A meaningful corrective-action record should show what was affected, what happened to the food, whether the supplier was contacted and what was changed to prevent recurrence.
How TKEG supports raw-fish due diligence
TKEG can keep supplier records, delivery checks, temperatures, traceability, cleaning, corrective actions, HACCP/SFBB evidence and staff training together so a restaurant can show how its raw-fish controls operate in practice.
Practical guidance, checked against official UK sources.
TKEG guidance is written for practical hospitality use. Where a topic involves regulation, official schemes or workplace safety, businesses should also consult the current guidance from the relevant authority and apply it to their own operation.
TKEG is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Food Standards Agency, HSE or a local authority. Official guidance and legal requirements take precedence where applicable.
Put the guidance through a practical check
Use our free interactive tools to assess inspection readiness, generate a tailored checklist, check temperatures, review training needs, test allergen and COSHH controls, or review your HACCP-based food-safety management system.
Food Hygiene Rating Readiness Checker
Review 12 practical inspection-readiness checks across food handling, premises and management.
Use free tool →Commercial Kitchen Compliance Checklist Generator
Generate a practical checklist tailored to your hospitality business and operating processes.
Use free tool →Commercial Kitchen Temperature Safety Checker
Compare chilled, hot-holding, cooking and reheating readings with common UK reference points.
Use free tool →Food Hygiene Training Requirements Checker
Check the training, instruction and supervision appropriate to different hospitality roles.
Use free tool →Allergen Compliance Self-Check
Review allergen information, staff procedures, cross-contact controls and PPDS labelling.
Use free tool →COSHH Compliance Self-Check
Review hazardous substances, COSHH assessments, storage, dilution, PPE, training and emergency controls.
Use free tool →HACCP & Food Safety Management Self-Check
Review hazards, controls, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, records and staff understanding.
Use free tool →Explore the main UK kitchen compliance topics
Move between the core topic hubs to understand how food-safety records and controls connect.
Continue with closely related guidance
Raw oysters & shellfish food safety
Read the TKEG guide.
Cooked rice food safety
Read the TKEG guide.
Food supplier checks
Read the TKEG guide.
Food traceability records
Read the TKEG guide.
Food delivery checks
Read the TKEG guide.
Preventing cross-contamination
Read the TKEG guide.
Food allergen requirements
Read the TKEG guide.
HACCP and food safety management
Read the TKEG guide.
Related TKEG software and workflows
TKEG helps hospitality teams record, manage and evidence many of the day-to-day controls covered in our guides.
Common questions
Does all fish used for sushi need to be frozen?
Specific parasite-treatment rules apply to fishery products intended to be eaten raw or insufficiently cooked, but defined exemptions can apply where the required conditions and evidence are met. The business should verify treatment status rather than apply a blanket assumption.
Can I use ordinary fresh salmon for sashimi?
Do not assume any fish is suitable for raw service simply because it is fresh or a commonly used species. Confirm the supplier, intended-use suitability and any parasite-treatment or exemption evidence that applies.
Is visual inspection enough to make raw fish safe?
No. Visual examination is required for parasites, but raw or lightly cooked fish may also need an appropriate parasite-destruction treatment unless a valid exemption applies. Hygiene, temperature and contamination controls are also still required.
What is Anisakis?
Anisakis is a food-borne parasite found in some fish and cephalopods. It can cause gastrointestinal illness and allergic reactions in some people.
Do sushi restaurants need traceability records?
Yes. Food businesses need supplier traceability records, and batch or treatment information can be particularly useful for raw-fish products if a safety issue later arises.
Turn the paperwork into a working system.
TKEG brings food-safety records, compliance evidence and kitchen management together.