Sushi fish is typically higher quality than supermarket fish. Also its usually flash frozen at a temperature that’s low enough to kill any bacteria and parasites they may have.

Fresh fish can have parasites that are dangerous. Sushi grade fish has been frozen to -4 degrees for 7 days which kills any parasites.

Follow up questions. When the parasites die from being frozen, aren’t we still digesting the corpses/remains? I’m guessing they just wash it afterwards?

In certain countries.

Yes you're still eating the parasites but they're dead.

Same as if it's cooked though.

Yes you are but they are in such a low quantity at that point that its not usually harmful. That is way it is imperative to always buy from a reputable seller and to make sure that the food is consistently treated properly and kept within good temperature ranges.

Nothing beats a plate full of tasty dead parasites. Yum!

So you're saying to avoid gas station sushi?

Everything is edible at least once. Some things are only edible once.

Yeah. You pretty much are when you eat any fish and many other cases with pretty much every type of meat.

If we're talking about the US, my understanding is that the term "sushi grade" is unregulated and generally used to identify fresher, higher quality fish. While it can mean that it was flash frozen, as many of these other posts indicate, it does not necessarily mean that it was and can be used as a marketing ploy.

However, confusingly, I have seen information saying that the FDA does have standards for fish the care of fish meant to be eaten raw, which include freezing it to specific temperatures for specific lengths of time to kill parasites.

Bruh, you just got the image of the mosquito burger to flash into my head. I would rather have forgotten that forever.

So yeah, now you know that's a thing too.

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Ewww. Ewww, ewww, ewww.

The problem with parasites is that they’ll infect you too if they’re alive

MOST raw fish living in a wild sea environment is perfectly safe to eat. (heavy asterisk being don't sue me if you get that wrong, I'm an idiot on the internet, not a real person). If you catch a tuna with a pole, slice it and take a bite, you'll probably be fine, with a VERY small chance you'll get worms (you can kill those with good certainty with the aforementioned deep freeze method). Shellfish are typically fine too.

Now if you take that fish, cut it up in a dirty place and put it in a package to rest for a couple days before consumption, that can be a problem, so if you get it from a supermarket in Kansas, it's probably not ideal to eat raw.

Now fish that live in/go into freshwater (salmon being a big one) are more likely to be contaminated with freshwater parasites. Almost all sushi grade salmon is farmed.

The egg salad sandwich is the one you're looking for.

All* fish that is served raw or undercooked in the US (in a commercial setting) must have been frozen to a certain temperature for a certain length of time (FDA Food Code 3.402.11-12). This has nothing to do with it being "sushi-grade", which is indeed an unregulated term.

*The only exceptions are certain species of tuna (presumably because their risk of parasites is low), and aquaculture fish that are raised in a controlled manner that prevents parasites.

You got me at "catch a tuna with a pole"

What?