Pregnancy Food List: What’s Safe and Food to Avoid! What food to eat while pregnant? This is a question every mother-to-be asks. You don’t want to harm yourself or the baby.
This post includes a pregnancy foods to avoid list and a pregnancy safe food list. Additionally, you’ll find out if it’s safe to eat fish and learn if there are vegetables and fruits to avoid during pregnancy. Even certain teas are an area of concern for most pregnant women. So you’ll discover pregnancy safe tea as well.
Pregnancy Foods to Avoid
Beverages
- all alcohol (beer, wine, etc.)
- caffeine, no more than 200mg caffeine per day, (increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, difficult birth)
- coffee with caffeine
- energy drinks (increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, difficult birth)
- tea with caffeine, no more than 200mg caffeine per day
- soft drinks with caffeine
Cheese
- blue cheese (made with mold, may contain listeria)
- brie (made with mold, may contain listeria)
- camembert (made with mold, may contain listeria)
- cheese, various types of soft cheeses and cheese with mold
- chevre (made with mold, may contain listeria)
- feta cheese (risk of listeria)
- gorgonzola (made with mold, may contain listeria)
- ricotta cheese (risk of listeria)
Egg and Dairy
- eggs, raw or partially cooked (risk of salmonella)
- ice cream, soft-serve (risk of listeria)
- milk, unpasteurized
Meat and Poultry
- chicken, cold, cooked, ready-to-eat, whole, portions, or diced
- cured meats like salami, chorizo and pepperoni (risk of listeria, or the toxoplasma parasite)
- liver products (contains too much vitamin A, may harm your baby)
- meat, raw or undercooked (risk of toxoplasmosis, salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli)
- meat, sliced and/or ready-to-eat
- oysters, raw (risk of listeria)
- pâté (all types, they contain listeria)
Fish and Seafood
- fish, some types of fish have high levels of mercury, which can affect your baby’s developing nervous system
- sashimi, chilled (risk of listeria)
- seafood, ready-to-eat (risk of listeria)
- shellfish, raw (risk of food poisoning, bacteria, viruses, listeria)
- shrimp, ready-to-eat (risk of listeria)
- sushi, chilled (risk of listeria)
Fruits to avoid during pregnancy
- cantaloupe (risk of listeria)
- fruit, pre-packaged or from a buffet (higher risk of listeria)
- grapes, can cause complications
- papaya, unripened can be dangerous
- pineapple, can cause miscarriage
Vegetables to avoid during pregnancy
- bean sprouts (risk of salmonella)
- salads, pre-packaged or from a buffet (higher risk of listeria)
- vegetables with soil on them, wash soil off
Other
- chocolate, no more than 200mg caffeine per day
- fish liver oil supplements (contains too much vitamin A, may harm your baby)
- vitamin A, high-dose multivitamins or anything high in vitamin A
What is listeria? Listeria is a type of bacteria that can harm your unborn baby.
What is toxoplasmosis? Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite that can be found in meat, soil, cat faeces and untreated water.
Pregnancy safe food
Pregnancy safe fruit
- Berries
- Oranges and Orange juice
- Apples
- Hard cheese and many other types of cheese are ok to eat while pregnant but you may want to stop completely! Why risk it? Read up on dairy substitutes and alternatives.
- Peanuts are ok unless you have a food allergy
Amounts of pregnancy safe caffeine
200mg caffeine maximum per day is ok. How much caffeine is in these beverages?
- 1 cup of instant coffee: 60mg
- 1 shot of espresso coffee: 100mg
- 1 cup of plunger coffee: 80mg
- 1 cup of tea: 30mg
- 375ml can of cola: 49mg
- 250ml can of energy drink: 80mg
- 100g bar of milk chocolate: 20mg
You won’t want to miss this quick read on: Vegan Pregnancy and Maternity Products
Sources:
This article provided a Pregnancy Food List and answered What’s Safe and Food to Avoid.
