Sushi and Mercury Concerns

Should I be worried about mercury?  It’s a question on the mind of many people when it comes to eating fish.  We want you to feel safe when you dine at our Bothell sushi restaurant, so we offer the following facts to ease your mind.

In all honesty, mercury is nearly impossible to avoid.  It’s a naturally occurring element, with more of it being released into the atmosphere every year from within the Earth itself than from human pollutants.  It finds its way into sea plants, which are eaten by small fish, which are eaten by bigger fish, and so on.  It’s okay to consume trace amounts of the metal, so long as you don’t go beyond a certain healthy limit.

The good news is that most fish we eat have a mercury level of 0.01 ppm to 0.5 ppm, which is significantly below the minimum safety level of 1 ppm as set by the FDA.  This minimum safety level is a conservative allowance, falling short of the level found in the fish that have historically been observed to cause mercury poisoning.  Meanwhile, most seafood has been found to boast properties that counteract the negative effects of mercury and purge such toxins from your body.  A few servings of fish every week are therefore considered to be highly beneficial.