Is Pâté (meat and vegetable) safe during pregnancy?

Meat & poultry

Official sources differ

The official sources below do not agree, so each position is shown with who holds it.[1,2,3,4,5,6]

What official sources say

NHS: Foods to avoid in pregnancy

  • Meat and poultry › Foods to be careful with: Meat pâté needs care in pregnancy: keep it in the fridge and eat it before its use-by date.[1]
  • Fruit and vegetables › Foods to be careful with: Vegetable or vegetarian pâté needs care in pregnancy: keep it in the fridge and eat it before its use-by date.[1]
  • Meat and poultry › Foods to avoid: Liver and liver products are on the list of foods to avoid in pregnancy.[1]

US CDC: Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women

  • Riskier Choice: Refrigerated pâté or meat spreads[2]
  • Safer Choice: Pâté or meat spreads in sealed, airtight containers that don't need to be kept refrigerated before opening[2]

US CDC: Preventing Listeria Infection

  • Avoid: Refrigerated pâté or meat spreads (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[3]

US FDA: Ready-to-Eat Foods (Food Safety for Moms-to-Be)

  • Don't eat: Refrigerated pâtés or meat spreads.[4]
  • It's okay to eat: Canned or shelf-stable (able to be stored unrefrigerated on the shelf) patés and meat spreads.[4]

FSANZ: Listeria in food

  • Avoid pre-prepared ready-to-eat foods, especially: refrigerated paté or meat spreads (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[5]

FSANZ: Food safety for vulnerable people

  • Higher-risk foods: Paté or meat spreads, refrigerated (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[6]
  • Safer alternatives: Canned or shelf-stable patés or meat spreads (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[6]

The USDA record found ("Pate, liver, not specified, canned") is liver pâté, not the meat or vegetable pâté this page covers, so no USDA values are shown.

Sources

  1. 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.
  2. US CDC: Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · cdc.gov. US government work, public domain; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  3. US CDC: Preventing Listeria Infection · cdc.gov. US government work, public domain; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  4. US FDA: Ready-to-Eat Foods (Food Safety for Moms-to-Be) · fda.gov. US government work, public domain; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  5. FSANZ: Listeria in food · foodstandards.gov.au. © Food Standards Australia New Zealand, licensed under CC BY 4.0; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  6. FSANZ: Food safety for vulnerable people · foodstandards.gov.au. © Food Standards Australia New Zealand, licensed under CC BY 4.0; quoted. No endorsement implied.

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.