Is Premade deli salads (coleslaw, potato salad) safe during pregnancy?

Prepared & street food

Avoid premade deli salads

The US CDC advises avoiding premade deli salads such as coleslaw and potato, tuna or chicken salad; homemade salads are the safer choice.[1,2,3,4]

What official sources say

US CDC: Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women

  • Deli salads: Premade deli salads, such as: …[1]
  • Premade deli salads, such as: Coleslaw[1]
  • Premade deli salads, such as: Potato salad[1]
  • Premade deli salads, such as: Tuna salad[1]
  • Premade deli salads, such as: Chicken salad[1]
  • Premade deli salads, such as: Egg salad[1]
  • Safer Choice: Homemade deli salads[1]

US CDC: Preventing Listeria Infection

  • Avoid: Premade deli salads, such as coleslaw and potato, tuna, or chicken salad (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[2]

FSANZ: Listeria in food

  • Avoid pre-prepared ready-to-eat foods, especially: pre-prepared or pre-packaged fruit or vegetable salads, including those from buffets and salad bars (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[3]

NHS: Foods to avoid in pregnancy

  • Fruit and vegetables › Foods to be careful with: Pre-packed sandwiches and salads need care in pregnancy: keep them in the fridge and eat them before their use-by date.[4]

Sources

  1. US CDC: Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · cdc.gov. US government work, public domain; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  2. US CDC: Preventing Listeria Infection · cdc.gov. US government work, public domain; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  3. FSANZ: Listeria in food · foodstandards.gov.au. © Food Standards Australia New Zealand, licensed under CC BY 4.0; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  4. NHS: Foods to avoid in pregnancy · nhs.uk. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3.0). Not endorsed by the NHS.

Sources checked 26 September 2026.

Quotes are checked word for word against each source page, and paraphrases against the original text. Official bodies are named as sources only: none of them reviewed or endorses this page.

Educational information, not medical advice. Your own doctor or midwife may advise differently for you — follow their advice.