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Just as naked sushi is making inroads into the Canadian market, critics are denouncing the Japanese tradition as sexist and discriminatory.

An online petition is urging health authorities in British Columbia to shut down one of Canada’s first body-sushi businesses, saying that its flagship service – offering patrons the chance to eat sushi piled atop a naked model’s body – is “objectifying” and underscores women’s sexualized role in society.

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“A company is literally objectifying women by using their employees naked bodies as platters for Sushi,” the unsigned petition says, describing the practice as “sexist” and “gross” and accusing it of “commodifying women’s bodies.”

The petition is targeting Naked Sushi, a Toronto-based catering company that has recently expanded into the Vancouver area, introducing the city’s populace to nyotaimori, a traditional Japanese dining experience in which models lie naked across tables while patrons navigate an array of raw fish and seaweed.

The criticism comes at a time of growing interest in the practice, which has recently begun to gain traction in Canada and the U.S. after centuries of confinement to Asian markets.

Hosted by SumOfUs.org, a progressive, self-styled watchdog that has also rallied against global brands such as Apple, Facebook and Fox News, the petition takes issue with the social and health aspects of the emerging body-sushi market.

A company is literally objectifying women by using their employees naked bodies as platters for Sushi

Considered a form of art among enthusiasts, body sushi has roiled some feminists and women’s advocates who instead label the practice as demeaning to the models involved and warn it’s dangerous to society’s perception of women.

“It sends a message to girls that their bodies are to be used as an object,” says YWCA spokeswoman Chantelle Krish who heads a unit addressing the hyper-sexualization of women.

But some entrepreneurs responsible for the budding practice argue that body sushi differs little from other provocative art forms in garnering negative publicity.

“What we see in the U.S. is a growing interest in it on a counter-cultural, subversive level,” says Mark Scharaga of New York City’s Nyotaimori, a body-sushi caterer. “It’s an art form – you have to expect that [criticism].”

Others denounce not only the naked models, but the female members of corporate groups that are increasingly turning to body-sushi catering for business meals.