Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy: Complete Safety Guide

by Kristina O'Leary

• 3 years ago
• Last updated 10 days ago
• Medically reviewed by Stephanie Wright, RN
• 7 min

Eating for two is one of the few times in life when a little extra hummus or ice cream feels not just allowed but almost encouraged. Enjoy that part, mama.

The good news? The list of foods to avoid during pregnancy is really short. The reason it exists at all is mostly one bug: pregnant women are 10 times more likely to get a Listeria infection than anyone else (CDC).

So we skip a handful of foods for nine months, and most cravings are still completely fair game. Here's the full list, the reasoning behind each one, and what to reach for instead.

Which fish should you avoid during pregnancy?

Skip the big predator fish. The FDA advises pregnant people not to eat bigeye tuna, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, swordfish, shark, or tilefish (Mayo Clinic, citing FDA). The reason is mercury. Larger, older fish accumulate more of it, and too much mercury can interfere with your baby's growing nervous system.

That doesn't mean giving up seafood entirely, and you really shouldn't. The omega-3s in fish help your baby's brain and eye development, and that's a win worth keeping.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 8 to 12 ounces of low-mercury seafood a week during pregnancy, which works out to two or three servings (Mayo Clinic).

Safer choices to keep in rotation:

• Shrimp
• Canned light tuna (not albacore)
• Salmon
• Pollock
• Catfish
• Anchovies and sardines

Whenever you cook fish at home, aim for an internal temperature of 145°F, or until the flesh turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork (CDC). And for now, skip raw sushi, ceviche, and refrigerated smoked seafood (the "nova-style," "lox," or "kippered" kind) unless it's fully cooked into a casserole or hot dish.

Here's a quick side-by-side if you're standing at the seafood counter:

Source: FDA advice on eating fish and Mayo Clinic.

How much caffeine is safe during pregnancy?

Most providers cap caffeine at less than 200 milligrams a day during pregnancy, which works out to roughly two 8-ounce cups of brewed coffee (Mayo Clinic).

Caffeine crosses the placenta to your baby, and the long-term effects aren't fully understood. The safest play is to keep the dose modest rather than eliminate it entirely, unless your provider asks you to. (Your morning coffee can stay. Just maybe not a second or third one.)

Here's how common drinks stack up, so you can keep track without doing math in your head every morning:

• 8 oz brewed coffee: about 95 mg
• 8 oz brewed tea: about 47 mg
• 12 oz caffeinated cola: about 33 mg

Decaf is always fine. Most herbal teas are, too, but a few blends (licorice root, for example) aren't recommended during pregnancy, so it's worth a quick text to your provider before you make tea a daily habit.

Which cheeses and dairy are unsafe during pregnancy?

Soft and unpasteurized cheeses are the real concern here. They can harbor Listeria.

This is the part that surprises a lot of first-time mamas: Listeria can cross the placenta and reach your baby even if you feel only mildly sick (ACOG).

So for these nine months, skip:

• Brie, camembert, and other soft ripened cheeses
• Feta and queso fresco
• Blue-veined cheeses (gorgonzola, roquefort, stilton)
• Anything made with unpasteurized ("raw") milk

The good news is that pasteurized versions of most of these are widely available. Just take a second to check the label. Hard cheeses like cheddar, parmesan, and swiss are perfectly safe when pasteurized, and so are cream cheese and cottage cheese. Pasteurized feta on your salad? Go for it.

One thing worth tucking away in case you ever need it: listeriosis symptoms can show up as late as two months after the food you ate (ACOG).

They often look exactly like the flu: fever, chills, muscle aches, a stiff neck. If anything like that shows up during your pregnancy, mention what you've eaten recently to your provider. It's one of those "better to ask" situations.

For related early-pregnancy symptom checks, our guide to signs of early pregnancy covers what to look for.

What raw or undercooked foods should I skip?

All of them, unfortunately. (We know, this one's hard.)

ACOG is pretty direct on the topic: "Avoid all raw and undercooked seafood, eggs, meat, and poultry while you are pregnant. Do not eat sushi made with raw fish (cooked sushi is safe). Cooking and pasteurization are the only ways to kill Listeria" (ACOG).

So for now, you'll want to skip:

• Raw or runny eggs (that means homemade Caesar dressing, hollandaise, and any cookie dough made with raw eggs, which is hard, we know)
• Rare steak, tartare, and carpaccio
• Undercooked poultry (aim for 165°F internal)
• Sashimi, ceviche, and oysters on the half shell

If you love sushi, you don't have to give it up entirely. Cooked rolls like shrimp tempura, unagi, and California rolls with imitation crab are still on the table.

And if a medium-rare burger is your thing, just switch to well-done for now. Nine months passes faster than you'd think.

What about deli meats, pate, and prepared salads?

These three get their own mention because they're the ones that catch people off guard. During pregnancy, it's best to skip:

• Deli meats, hot dogs, and refrigerated pates. If you really want that turkey sandwich, heat the meat to steaming (about 165°F) before eating. That's enough to kill any Listeria that might be lurking.
• Store-made tuna, chicken, ham, egg, and seafood salads. Mayo Clinic advises avoiding ready-made meat salads and seafood salads during pregnancy (Mayo Clinic). Homemade versions are totally fine if you cook the protein yourself and refrigerate them promptly.
• Pre-packaged coleslaw and potato salad from the deli counter, for the same reason.

The issue isn't the ingredients themselves. It's how long these items sit in a refrigerated case where Listeria can slowly multiply.

Homemade, eaten within a day or two, is a completely different story. So if you're craving chicken salad, make a batch yourself. Just use cooked chicken, fresh mayo, and eat it within 48 hours. Easy fix.

Why is unwashed produce risky?

Soil and water can carry Listeria and other bacteria, and those bugs can cling to the surface of fresh produce.

ACOG's advice is simple: "Rinse all raw produce thoroughly under running water before eating, peeling, cutting, or cooking" (ACOG). That applies even to fruits you'll peel, since knives can carry bacteria from the skin onto the flesh.

Raw sprouts are the one exception where washing won't help. The bacteria grow inside the sprout itself, not just on the surface. So alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts should be cooked or skipped entirely during pregnancy.

Pre-cut, pre-washed bagged salads are perfectly fine, as long as they've been kept cold and you eat them before the use-by date.

What should I eat instead?

The reassuring part of all this? A pregnancy diet isn't really that different from a regular healthy diet.

You just want to make sure a handful of specific nutrients show up consistently, because your body is doing extra work and your baby is building from scratch.

The nutrients that matter most:

• Protein: lean meats, fully cooked fish, eggs, cottage cheese, nuts, and legumes
• Calcium: pasteurized dairy, dark leafy greens, fortified plant milks, canned salmon with bones
• Iron: lean red meat, beans, fortified cereals and bread, leafy greens (pair with vitamin C for better absorption)
• Folate: leafy greens, oranges, peanuts, fortified breads and cereals, plus your prenatal vitamin
• Vitamin C: citrus, berries, tomatoes, peppers (doubles as an iron-absorption helper)
• Vitamin D: fortified milk and juice, eggs, a little sunlight, or a supplement if your provider recommends one

Your prenatal fills in the gaps, but whole foods do most of the real work.

And don't underestimate the unglamorous essentials: water and fiber. Both help with pregnancy constipation and support the extra blood volume your body is producing. Drink up, mama.

For more on everything pregnancy throws at you, see our guides to how to deal with hot flashes during pregnancy and baby kicks during pregnancy. And if you're already thinking ahead to the hospital bag, our favorite snacks for the delivery day will keep you fueled through labor itself.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider, obstetrician, or midwife for guidance specific to your pregnancy.

Written by

Kristina O'Leary

Kristina has been a freelance editor and writer for over ten years. As an editor for international healthcare professionals and many publications, she is a real professional in writing well-researched content.