Japan's sushi industry, concerned about the reputation of its national cuisine, will next month launch a certification campaign for foreign sushi chefs, an industry group said Monday.
Similar campaigns to certify authentic sushi overseas were previously criticized as an attempt to impose a "sushi police," but the All-Japan Sushi Federation said the latest effort was aimed at promoting hygiene.
"Most restaurants overseas make sushi dishes in the same kitchen as those preparing meat," said leading sushi chef Masayoshi Kazato, who devised the certification system. "It gets unhygienic if you deal with raw saltwater fish in a kitchen without water running constantly for cleaning."
Concern was mounting among sushi chefs in Japan that, if food poisoning repeatedly occurred in the world because of a lack of proper knowledge and techniques, sushi could get branded as a dangerous food, he added.
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