Is Costco's Fresh Salmon Safe For Sushi? What You Need To Know

Even if your local grocery store only runs its deals for sushi on Tuesday afternoons for lunch, what's to stop you from picking up the ingredients and making your own? Once you've got the seaweed wrapping and you've brushed up on a few foolproof tips for rolling sushi like a pro, it's time to make sure you're picking the perfect kind of seafood filler. That pack of fresh salmon in the Costco deli section looks like the perfect choice for some Philadelphia rolls, but is it safe to use? Broadly speaking, the answer is yes, Costco's fresh salmon is safe for making sushi. 

It's not necessarily labeled as "sushi-grade" fish, but technically, "sushi-grade" and "sashimi-grade" are made-up terms used on more of a marketing level than a food-safety level. Costco's fresh salmon are typically either flash-frozen, as indicated on the labels, or aquafarmed, which, according to FDA standards, means it does not need to be flash-frozen to be considered safe. If you want to use Costco's fresh salmon for sushi, the choice is up to you. Still, it comes with understanding the risks of consuming any raw seafood.

Consuming raw salmon in any capacity comes with the potential risk of ingesting live parasites, particularly parasitic worms — which are certainly an unsettling thing to encounter in packaged raw fish. On a salmon's journey from freshwater out to the ocean, the fish likely pick up parasites by consuming smaller fish and aquatic creatures along the way. This is partly why experts say that wild-caught salmon comes with a higher risk for parasitic infection than aquafarmed salmon — and that's just one of many differences between farmed and wild salmon. 

These parasites can be transferred to humans if they're ingested before being properly treated, which is where the FDA's guidelines for serving raw or undercooked foods come into play by urging consumers to flash-freeze and properly treat their fresh salmon before eating it. Parasitic worms in salmon are increasingly common, and, according to data from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (via CBC), about 75% of wild Pacific salmon are hiding the wriggling worms beneath the surface. 

This isn't to say that all salmon are unsafe, though you should definitely be cautious when making sushi at home. Costco usually stocks sockeye salmon, steelhead salmon, and/or king salmon, which are just a few of the best types of salmon, in our humble opinion. While you're at Costco shopping for a filet to take home for fresh sushi, keep an eye out for the "farmed" label to decrease the chances of hidden parasitic worms, ensure that the color of the filet is a vibrant red or orange, and, of course, look out for that sell-by/best-by date.