Foods in pregnancy: is it safe?
What official food-safety sources say about each food in pregnancy, source by source: the NHS, the US FDA and CDC, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, ICMR-NIN and FSSAI. Where none of them names a food, the page says so plainly.
Fish
- Anchovy: Best Choice: 2 to 3 servings a week
- Atlantic mackerel: Best Choice, within oily-fish limits
- Bangda (Indian mackerel): No official guidance
- Basa / pangasius: No official guidance
- Bombay duck (bombil): No official guidance
- Canned tuna: Limit: light tuna is a Best Choice; NHS cap of 4 cans a week
- Carp: Good Choice: 1 serving a week
- Catfish: Official sources differ
- Catla: No official guidance
- Clams: Best Choice, cooked only
- Cod: Best Choice: 2 to 3 servings a week
- Crab: Best Choice, cooked only
- Dried fish: No official guidance
- Fish curry / cooked fish: Safe when cooked through
- Grouper: Good Choice: 1 serving a week
- Herring: Best Choice, within oily-fish limits
- Hilsa (ilish): No official guidance
- King mackerel: Avoid (highest mercury)
- Lobster: Best Choice, cooked only
- Marlin: Official sources differ
- Mullet: Best Choice: 2 to 3 servings a week
- Murrel (snakehead): No official guidance
- Orange roughy: Official sources differ
- Oysters (cooked): Best Choice, cooked only
- Pollock: Best Choice: 2 to 3 servings a week
- Pomfret: No official guidance
- Rawas (Indian threadfin / "Indian salmon"): No official guidance
- Rohu: No official guidance
- Salmon: Best Choice, within oily-fish limits
- Sardines: Best Choice, within oily-fish limits
- Scallops: Best Choice, cooked only
- Shark: Official sources differ
- Shrimp / prawns: Best Choice, cooked only
- Snapper (red snapper): Good Choice: 1 serving a week
- Sole: Best Choice: 2 to 3 servings a week
- Squid (calamari): Best Choice, cooked only
- Surmai / seer fish: No official guidance
- Swordfish: Official sources differ
- Tilapia: Best Choice: 2 to 3 servings a week
- Tilefish: Avoid Gulf of Mexico tilefish
- Trout (freshwater): Best Choice, within oily-fish limits
- Tuna steak (fresh tuna): Limit to 2 steaks a week; avoid bigeye
Seafood & shellfish
- Caviar / fish roe: No official guidance
- Ceviche: Avoid (raw fish)
- Crab sticks (surimi): No official guidance
- Fish oil / cod liver oil: Do not take cod liver oil
- Mussels: Cooked only
- Raw oysters: Avoid
- Sashimi: Avoid (raw fish)
- Smoked salmon (lox): Cook until steaming hot; shelf-stable smoked fish is the US exception
- Sushi: Only if made with cooked fish
Milk, cheese & dairy
- Blue cheese (gorgonzola, roquefort): Official sources differ
- Brie: Official sources differ
- Butter: Safe when pasteurised
- Buttermilk (chaas): Part of the pregnancy diet
- Camembert: Official sources differ
- Cheddar: Safe to eat
- Cottage cheese: Safe when pasteurised
- Cream: Safe when pasteurised
- Cream cheese: Safe when pasteurised
- Feta: Official sources differ
- Ghee: No official guidance
- Goat's cheese: Safe if pasteurised and without a white rind
- Halloumi: Safe when pasteurised
- Ice cream: Safe when pasteurised
- Khoa / mawa: No official guidance
- Kulfi: No official guidance
- Lassi: No official guidance
- Milk (pasteurised / boiled): Safe when pasteurised
- Mozzarella: Official sources differ
- Paneer: Safe when pasteurised
- Parmesan: Safe to eat
- Queso fresco: Official sources differ
- Rasmalai / rasgulla: No official guidance
- Raw (unpasteurised) milk: Avoid
- Ricotta: Official sources differ
- Shrikhand: No official guidance
- Soft-serve ice cream: Avoid (FSANZ)
- Yogurt / curd (dahi): Safe when pasteurised
Meat & poultry
- Beef / steak (rare steak): Official sources differ
- Biryani: No official guidance
- Burger: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Chicken: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Chicken tikka: No official guidance
- Deli meat / cold cuts: Official sources differ
- Duck: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Game meat / venison: Avoid
- Ham (cold cooked): Official sources differ
- Hot dogs: Avoid unless heated until steaming hot
- Kebab / seekh kebab: No official guidance
- Keema / minced meat: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Liver (chicken, mutton, beef): Official sources differ
- Mutton / lamb: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Pâté (meat and vegetable): Official sources differ
- Pork: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Prosciutto / Parma ham: Cook until steaming hot
- Salami / pepperoni / chorizo (cured meats): Cook until steaming hot
- Sausages: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
- Shawarma: No official guidance
- Tandoori chicken: No official guidance
- Turkey: Safe only when thoroughly cooked
Eggs
- Caesar dressing / eggnog (raw-egg foods): Avoid if made with raw egg
- Cookie dough / raw cake batter: Avoid raw dough and batter made with raw egg
- Duck eggs: Safe only when well cooked
- Eggs (well-cooked): Safe when well cooked
- Mayonnaise: Commercial mayonnaise is safe; homemade needs care
- Mousse / tiramisu: Only if made with pasteurised (or Lion) eggs
- Omelette / egg bhurji: Safe when cooked until firm
- Quail eggs: Safe only when well cooked
- Raw eggs: Official sources differ
- Runny / soft-boiled eggs: Official sources differ
Fruit
- Amla (Indian gooseberry): No official guidance
- Apple: Listed as a safer choice
- Avocado: No official guidance
- Banana: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Cantaloupe / muskmelon (rockmelon): Wash; eat cut melon fresh or chilled for up to 7 days
- Chikoo (sapota): No official guidance
- Coconut: No official guidance
- Custard apple (sitaphal): No official guidance
- Dates (khajoor): Dry fruits are listed as iron sources
- Figs (anjeer): Suggested as a healthy snack
- Frozen berries / frozen fruit: Cook frozen fruit thoroughly
- Grapes: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Guava: Recommended: vitamin C for iron absorption
- Jackfruit: No official guidance
- Jamun (Indian blackberry): No official guidance
- Kiwi fruit: No official guidance
- Lemon: Vitamin C source that helps iron absorption
- Lychee: No official guidance
- Mango: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Orange / citrus: Recommended: vitamin C for iron absorption
- Papaya (raw / unripe): No official guidance
- Papaya (ripe): No official guidance
- Pear: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Pineapple: Vitamin C source that helps iron absorption
- Pomegranate: Juice may be safe; little known about other forms
- Pre-cut / packaged fruit: Keep chilled and in date; FSANZ advises avoiding fruit salads
- Strawberries: No official guidance
- Tamarind: No official guidance
- Unwashed fruit and vegetables: Wash all fruit and vegetables
- Watermelon: Eat freshly cut; keep cut melon chilled
Vegetables
- Aloe vera (juice / gel by mouth): Aloe taken by mouth may be unsafe
- Bagged / pre-packed salad: Eat chilled and within date; FSANZ advises avoiding
- Beetroot: No official guidance
- Bitter gourd (karela): No official guidance
- Brinjal / eggplant: No official guidance
- Carrot: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Corn (maize / bhutta): Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Cucumber: Suggested as a healthy snack
- Dal / lentils / pulses: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Drumstick / moringa: Drumstick leaves are part of the pregnancy diet
- Enoki mushrooms: Cook thoroughly; never raw
- Fenugreek (methi) leaves: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Garlic: Larger-than-food amounts may not be safe
- Mushrooms: Cook thoroughly
- Okra (bhindi): No official guidance
- Onion: No official guidance
- Potato: Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Salad / leafy greens (lettuce): Wash thoroughly
- Soy / tofu: Amounts above food levels may be unsafe
- Spinach (palak): Part of the pregnancy diet
- Sprouts (raw: alfalfa, moong, radish): Cook thoroughly; avoid raw sprouts
- Sweet potato: No official guidance
- Tomato: Wash thoroughly
Grains & cereals
- Bajra (pearl millet): Millet is part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Bread: Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Chapati / roti (wheat): Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Fortified breakfast cereal: Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Idli / dosa: Part of the pregnancy diet
- Instant noodles (Maggi etc.): No official guidance
- Jowar (sorghum): No official guidance
- Millets / ragi (finger millet): Millet is part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Oats: Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Pasta: Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Poha (flattened rice): No official guidance
- Quinoa: Part of a healthy pregnancy diet
- Raw flour / raw dough: Riskier choice: raw dough or batter made with raw flour
- Rice: Part of the diet; the FDA flags rice as a leading arsenic source
Nuts & seeds
- Ajwain (carom seeds): No official guidance
- Almonds: Safe to eat, unless you are allergic or told not to
- Cashews: Safe to eat, unless you are allergic or told not to
- Chia seeds: Listed as an omega-3 food
- Cumin (jeera): No official guidance
- Dry fruits (mixed): Listed as iron sources
- Fennel seeds (saunf): No official guidance
- Fenugreek seeds (methi dana): Not safe above food amounts
- Flaxseed (alsi): Official sources differ
- Makhana (fox nuts): No official guidance
- Peanuts: Safe to eat, unless you are allergic or told not to
- Pistachio: Safe to eat, unless you are allergic or told not to
- Poppy seeds (khus khus): No official guidance
- Raisins (kishmish): Raisins not named; NHS suggests ready-to-eat apricots, figs or prunes
- Sesame (til): Part of the pregnancy diet
- Sunflower seeds: No official guidance
- Walnuts: Safe to eat, unless you are allergic or told not to
Spices & herbs
- Ashwagandha: Avoid
- Black pepper: No official guidance
- Chamomile tea: Limit herbal teas to 4 cups a day
- Cinnamon (dalchini): Food amounts appear safe; larger amounts of Ceylon cinnamon are not
- Cloves (laung): No official guidance
- Curry leaves: No official guidance
- Ginger: Ginger supplements may be safe; ask first
- Ginger tea: No official guidance
- Hibiscus tea: No official guidance
- Hing (asafoetida): No official guidance
- Kadha (herbal decoction): No official guidance
- Kalonji (nigella seeds): No official guidance
- Liquorice (mulethi): Avoid liquorice root
- Mint (pudina): Part of the pregnancy diet
- Peppermint tea: Limit herbal teas to 4 cups a day
- Raspberry leaf tea: No official guidance
- Saffron (kesar): No official guidance
- Shatavari: No official guidance
- Tulsi (holy basil): No official guidance
- Turmeric (haldi): Supplements may be unsafe in pregnancy
Drinks
- Alcohol (wine, beer, spirits): Avoid
- Coconut water: No official guidance
- Coffee: Limit caffeine to 200 mg a day
- Cola: Limit (caffeine); ICMR-NIN says avoid fizzy drinks
- Decaf coffee: No official guidance
- Energy drinks: Not recommended in pregnancy (Indian label warning)
- Fresh / unpasteurised juice: Avoid unless pasteurised or boiled
- Green tea: Counts towards the 200 mg caffeine limit
- Herbal tea (general): Limit to 4 cups a day; avoid liquorice root
- Kombucha: No official guidance
- Protein shakes: No official guidance
- Smoothies / milkshakes: Safe when made with pasteurised juice
- Soda / carbonated drinks: ICMR-NIN: avoid carbonated drinks
- Sugarcane juice: No official guidance
- Tea / chai: Limit caffeine; not with meals or IFA tablets
Sweets & sweeteners
- Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K): Not recommended in pregnancy (Indian label warning)
- Aspartame: Not recommended in pregnancy (Indian label warning)
- Dark chocolate: Counts towards the 200 mg caffeine limit
- Gond ladoo: No official guidance
- Honey: No official guidance
- Jaggery (gur): No official guidance
- Milk chocolate: Counts towards the 200 mg caffeine limit
- Mithai / gulab jamun: No official guidance
- Panjiri: No official guidance
- Saccharin: No official guidance
- Stevia: No official guidance
- Sucralose: No official guidance
- Sugar: Limit to 25 to 30 g a day
Prepared & street food
- Achar / pickles: No official guidance
- Canned / tinned food: Tinned meat and canned fish are listed as safe
- Chaat / bhel puri: No official guidance
- French fries / chips: Choose oven chips lower in fat and salt
- Hummus / tahini dips: Tahini-based dips are higher-risk (FSANZ)
- Leftovers: Chill quickly; reheat until steaming hot
- Momos: No official guidance
- MSG / Ajinomoto: Not recommended in pregnancy (Indian label warning)
- Pakora / bhajji: No official guidance
- Pani puri / golgappa: No official guidance
- Papad: No official guidance
- Pizza: No official guidance
- Plant-sterol / stanol spreads: May not be appropriate in pregnancy (Indian label warning)
- Premade deli salads (coleslaw, potato salad): Avoid premade deli salads
- Samosa: No official guidance
- Street food (general): Eat only piping hot and freshly cooked
Educational information, not medical advice — always consult your doctor.