| Summary: | Sushi and sashimi are traditional Japanese food, mostly consisting of raw seafood alone or in combination with rice. Eating sushi and sashimi has become popular in many countries even outside Japan. This food is not free from health risks such as ingestion of pathogenic bacteria or parasite. The aim of this study was to investigate on hygienic-sanitary quality of sushi and sashimi sold in the cities of Messina and Catania, Southern Italy. Fifty samples (38 sushi and 12 sashimi) were analysed to determinate the aerobic mesophilic bacteria (AMB), psycrophilic bacteria (PB), <em>Enterobacteriaceae</em>, specific spoilage organisms (SSOs), <em>Pseudomonas</em> spp., coagulase-positive staphylococci, micrococci, <em>Vibrio</em> spp., <em>Bacillus cereus</em>, <em>Salmonella</em> spp. and <em>Listeria monocytogenes</em>. In sushi, AMB ranged from 5.00 to 8.18 log CFU/g, PB from 4.70 to 7.13 log CFU/g, <em>Enterobacteriaceae</em> from 1.41 to 6.67 log CFU/g, while SSOs and <em>Pseudomonas</em> spp. from 3.49 to 7.72 and from 3.36 to 8.00 log CFU/g, respectively. Micrococci ranged from 3.53 to 5.03 log CFU/g and coagulase positive staphylococci were found in 16 samples (2.00 to 3.60 log CFU/g). <em>Bacillus cereus</em> was found in 3 samples (1.70 to 4.00 log CFU/g), while <em>Vibrio</em> spp. was found in 15 of the sushi samples (1.70 to 3.70 log CFU/g). In sashimi, the AMB, PB and SSOs values were higher than 7.00 log CFU/g, <em>Pseudomonas</em> spp. and <em>Enterobacteriaceae</em> were from 6.00 to 8.00 log CFU/g, while <em>Vibrio</em> spp. were found in six samples with means of 2.00 log CFU/g. No <em>Salmonella</em> spp. and <em>Listeria monocytogenes</em> were detected in all sushi and sashimi samples.
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