Foods to Limit or Avoid During Pregnancy

Foods and Drinks to Limit or Avoid During Pregnancy

Your diet while pregnant is crucial to the health and development of baby—but there are a few foods and drinks you should work to limit or avoid. Learn how to adjust your diet around food and drinks that might be harmful to you and your baby, while still eating a well-balanced diet.

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Drinks to Limit or Avoid While Pregnant Foods to Limit or Avoid While Pregnant

Pregnancy can feel overwhelming sometimes. Your body is rapidly changing, and there’s so much to do before your little one’s arrival. Trying to remember all the details can make your head spin. Thankfully, this primer about what food and drinks should be avoided during pregnancy can act as a guideline until your due date. Talk to your doctor about your specific dietary needs.

Drinks to Limit or Avoid While Pregnant

It’s important to stay hydrated during your pregnancy, but there are a few beverages you’ll want to limit or avoid.

Caffeine – Limit

Some research has shown that large amounts of caffeine have related to low birth weight, premature birth and even miscarriage.¹ However, it may not be completely necessary to cut out caffeine. Most health care providers agree that caffeine in moderation, less than 300mg, is safe for mom and baby.¹ So enjoy your cup of coffee!

Herbal Tea – Check with Health Care Provider

There are several ingredients found in herbal teas that are not recommended for pregnant women. These include chamomile, sassafras, pennyroyal, aloe, juniper berry and more.¹ Other common ingredients, including citrus peel, ginger and rose hip are generally considered safe.¹ Kombucha should be avoided. Check with your doctor before drinking any herbal teas, even those that are marketed to pregnant women.¹

Alcohol – Avoid

Alcohol during pregnancy should absolutely be avoided; there is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant (CDC).¹ Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can harm your developing baby and put them at risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which is a lifelong disability.¹

Foods to Limit or Avoid While Pregnant

Maintain a healthy diet with a variety of foods during your pregnancy, but be aware of some foods that may carry risks.

Ready-to-Eat Meats – Avoid

If lunchtime typically involves shaved deli meats and cold cuts, you may have to find a contingency plan during your pregnancy. Ready-to-eat meats should be avoided unless they have been thoroughly cooked:³

The risk of consuming deli meats is that they are known to be contaminated with listeria, a bacteria often found in ground water, soil, or on plants.³ If pregnant women consume any listeria-contaminated deli meats and products, like hotdogs and chicken salad, they may contract listeriosis, a dangerous infection that may cause premature delivery or miscarriage.³ Listeria may even travel through the placenta and infect your baby.⁴ Symptoms of listeriosis may not appear right away; if they do appear, you may simply think you’ve come down with the flu.³ If you’re craving a turkey sandwich, thoroughly cook the turkey meat before eating it in order to kill off any harmful bacteria.

Raw or Undercooked Meat, Poultry & Eggs – Avoid

If you prefer your eggs over easy and your burgers medium rare, you may have to wait until your baby is born to enjoy them. Pregnant women are advised to avoid rare and undercooked meats.¹

A great food safety tip is to use a meat thermometer to ensure that whole cuts of meat are cooked to an internal temperature of at least 72°-82°C (depending on the type of meat). Use a food thermometer and insert it through the thickest part of the meat, all the way to the middle, to ensure a proper temperature reading.⁵

Raw and undercooked eggs should be avoided during pregnancy as well, due to the potential exposure to salmonella.^1,4 Follow tips to make sure to avoid raw and undercooked eggs:

When you’re making breakfast, make sure that both your egg yolks and whites are firm and cooked through.
Homemade ice cream, eggnog, raw cookie dough and homemade Caesar salad dressing are made with raw eggs and should not be consumed by pregnant women.⁴
Store bought ice cream and salad dressing are made with pasteurized eggs and are considered safer to eat.¹

Unpasteurized Foods – Avoid

When milk is pasteurized, raw product is heated to a specific temperature for a specific amount of time until all pathogens that may be found in the raw milk have been killed.⁵ A pathogen is a microorganism that can make us very sick, and raw milk can contain pathogens like:⁴

salmonella
listeria
e. coli

These pathogens can be harmful to a mother and her developing child, so pasteurization is very important to ensure safety. Many soft cheeses like brie, feta, and blue cheeses are made with raw milk and should be avoided unless they are very clearly labeled as being pasteurized.²

In addition to dairy products, look for pasteurized fruit juices, instead of fresh-squeezed or raw juice when at the grocery store.¹

Fish & Shellfish – Eat with Caution

Fish is an excellent part of a healthy diet during pregnancy. Not only is it high in protein, it’s low in saturated fat and contains healthy fats called DHA that contribute to fetal brain development and heart health.³ Pregnant and breastfeeding women are encouraged to eat 8 to 12oz of cooked seafood each week so that they may pass these nutrients along to their babies.

However, there are a few varieties of fish that contain high levels of mercury and should be avoided during pregnancy. Pregnant women are encouraged to avoid eating:^3,4,6

Shark
Tuna
Orange roughy
Swordfish

Mothers-to-be should pay close attention to where their seafood originates and avoid fish that have been exposed to water contaminated by industrial pollutants. Your local, provincial or territorial health department should be able to advise you about which locally sourced fish are safe to eat.⁷

Smoked seafood, like lox, should also be avoided during pregnancy, due to potential listeria contamination. This type of seafood is frequently found in a deli case in your local grocery store, but it may be considered safe to eat if it has been fully cooked through as part of a casserole or another dish.⁷

Sushi restaurants, ceviche dishes and oyster bars may have to wait until your baby is born; raw fish and raw shellfish are foods to avoid during pregnancy.^2,4,7

It may seem like there are a lot of rules about what food to avoid during pregnancy, but rest assured that these recommendations are made with the best interests of mother and child in mind. For more ways to enjoy a healthy, even delicious, pregnancy, see our resources on pregnancy nutrition.

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