Monday, March 4, 2024

The NFI Sushi Council begins inaugural year

March 4, 2024 - The National Fisheries Institute recently announced the formation of the NFI Sushi Council. A pre-competitive stakeholder group, the Sushi Council is made up of harvesters, processors, distributors, and end-users at retail and foodservice working to enhance sushi product integrity and promote Industry-led food safety.

"Sushi has achieved household status and is a major contributor to US seafood consumption," Chairman Michael McNicholas, of Culimer USA LLC, said. "The surge in popularity of raw and ready-to-eat products needs to be met with a similarity robust industry voice that advocates and advances the highest standard of handling and preparation for seafood destined for the sushi market."

The NFI Sushi Council will develop and distribute food safety guidance tailored to sushi's specialised supply chain. A working group combining industry, government, and academia has formed under the Council's direction to detail hazards and needed control measures. The resulting guidance will draw on existing compliance documents and stakeholder expertise to produce plainspoken and accessible resources for seafood professionals working in every step of the value chain from fish farm and processing facilities all the way to the sushi counter.

"We rely on strong partnerships throughout sushi's global supply line," said Council Executive Committee member Daryl Gormley of AquaMar. "Our goal is to maintain a superior product from harvest to final preparation, and we're recruiting partners to join this effort now."

The NFI Sushi Council will next meet in Boston at the Seafood Expo North America (SENA) on Sunday, March 10, at 8:30am NFI Sushi Council's Executive Committee will host a panel on March 11 at 2:45pm during the SENA Conference Program to discuss US sushi market dynamics and the council's food safety mission.

Companies joining the NFI Sushi Council before April 1, 2024, will receive the designation of Founding Council Members. Current founding members include Aquamar, BlueNalu, Blue Ocean Mariculture, Culimer USA LLC, Eastern Fish Company, Red Shell Sushi, Shinkei Systems Corp ad True World Foods.

For more information, visit HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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