Can You Eat Store-Bought Sushi The Next Day?

Sushi, a traditional Japanese dish, is a satisfying way to get plenty of protein in your diet. It's usually made by rolling raw fish in rice and seaweed, but these days, it has evolved to include everything from fried seafood to vegetables and chicken. If you're in a rush, you might stop into your local grocery store and pick up a roll from the sushi counter. Grocery store sushi is as safe to eat as restaurant sushi, but if you don't finish it all, can you eat it the next day? The answer is generally yes, as long as it's stored properly.

Raw fish is not among the items you should reconsider ordering from a sushi restaurant, but you always accept a risk of foodborne illness when consuming it. However, the longer that sushi sits around, the higher the risk of it making you sick. For that reason, if you don't finish your sushi as soon as you open it, make sure to refrigerate it within two hours. If it's on the counter for more than two hours, it should be tossed, but if it's consistently refrigerated, it will be fine to eat the next day, regardless of whether it's raw or cooked. To properly store sushi, make sure it's wrapped tightly. Plastic wrap or aluminum foil will work, as well as an airtight container. Keep it in the refrigerator unless you're consuming it.

With so many sushi rolls on the market, your store-bought sushi's freshness depends on what roll you purchase. If the roll is made with raw fish, such as a spicy tuna roll, then it's fine to eat the next day but should be thrown away if it's been in the refrigerator for more than two days. If the roll is fully cooked, such as with a California or shrimp tempura roll, then that shelf life extends to four days.

The good thing about fresh foods and prepared foods at grocery stores is they usually have two dates on the packaging: when the food was packed, and when it needs to be sold or consumed. This is a helpful guideline for knowing how long your store-bought sushi will last. The packaged date is the one you should reference to know how safe your sushi will be the next day. For example, if you purchase a spicy tuna roll that's been sitting in the store for two days, you should consume it that day and not save any leftovers. Although store-bought sushi tastes different from the kind you might get in a restaurant, the safety measures for storing leftovers are the same.