Is Soft-serve ice cream safe during pregnancy?

Milk, cheese & dairy

Avoid (FSANZ)

FSANZ advises vulnerable people, including pregnant women, to avoid soft-serve ice cream; packaged frozen ice cream is its safer alternative.[1,2]

What official sources say

FSANZ: Listeria in food

  • Avoid pre-prepared ready-to-eat foods, especially: soft serve ice cream (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[1]

FSANZ: Food safety for vulnerable people

  • Higher-risk foods: Ice cream - soft serve (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[2]
  • Safer alternatives: Packaged frozen ice cream (advice for vulnerable people, including pregnant women)[2]

Related general rules

NHS: Foods to avoid in pregnancy

  • Cheese, milk and other dairy › Safe to eat: Pasteurised milk, butter, yoghurt, cream and ice cream, from cows, sheep or goats, are safe in pregnancy.[3]

Sources

  1. FSANZ: Listeria in food · foodstandards.gov.au. © Food Standards Australia New Zealand, licensed under CC BY 4.0; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  2. FSANZ: Food safety for vulnerable people · foodstandards.gov.au. © Food Standards Australia New Zealand, licensed under CC BY 4.0; quoted. No endorsement implied.
  3. 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.