⚠️ Medical Disclaimer: These tools are for educational purposes only and are not medical advice. Please consult your pediatrician or healthcare provider for any health concerns.
Free Tool

Pregnancy Food Safety Checker

Is it safe to eat during pregnancy? Search any food and instantly see if it's safe, unsafe, or limited during pregnancy. With clear reasons based on medical evidence.

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This checker reflects FSANZ pregnancy food-safety guidance. The key risks in pregnancy are listeria (from unpasteurised dairy, soft cheese and chilled ready-to-eat foods), salmonella and toxoplasma (from raw or undercooked eggs and meat), and mercury (from certain fish). When in doubt about any food not listed here, ask your doctor or midwife — during pregnancy it is always better to be cautious.

🥗 Pregnancy Food Safety Checker

Check any food against FSANZ pregnancy guidance instantly

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Step-by-Step Guide

How to use this tool

Type any food in the search box and see its safety status immediately. Browse by category using the tabs. Safe, Avoid, or Limited.

  1. 1
    Search for any food

    Type the name of any food in the search box: "brie", "deli meat", "rockmelon", "prawns", "fish". The results filter instantly as you type. Just start typing and the list filters instantly.

  2. 2
    Check the colour coding

    Green background = Safe to eat. Red background = Avoid during pregnancy. Yellow background = Eat in limited amounts. Each food shows exactly WHY it's in that category.

  3. 3
    Use the filter tabs

    Click "Avoid" to see all foods to stay away from. Click "Limited" to see foods you can have occasionally. Click "Safe" to get inspiration for a healthy pregnancy diet.

  4. 4
    When in doubt, ask your doctor

    This checker covers the most common foods but cannot list every food in the world. When in doubt about a specific food not listed here, ask your gynaecologist. When it comes to pregnancy, it is always better to be safe.

💡 Build a balanced pregnancy plate

Aim for a mix at every meal: a lean protein (freshly cooked chicken, eggs, legumes), a wholegrain, and plenty of freshly washed fruit and veg. Add pasteurised milk or yoghurt for calcium, and 2-3 serves of low-mercury fish a week. Take folate and iodine supplements as recommended in Australia, and stay hydrated.

⚠️ Most important foods to avoid

Soft cheeses, cold deli meats, cold cooked chicken, pre-packaged salads, rockmelon and soft serve (all listeria risks in Australia), raw seafood and sushi, high-mercury shark/flake and swordfish, raw or undercooked meat, and alcohol (no safe level).

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Listeria is rare but can be very serious in pregnancy, and Australia has had outbreaks linked to specific foods. FSANZ advice is to avoid higher-risk ready-to-eat foods: soft cheeses, cold deli meats, cold cooked chicken, pre-packaged salads, pre-cut fruit, rockmelon and soft serve ice cream. The safest rule is to eat food freshly cooked and hot, and to avoid chilled ready-to-eat foods that have been sitting.
Hard cheeses (cheddar, tasty, parmesan) and processed/spreadable cheeses (cream cheese, cottage cheese) are safe. FSANZ advises avoiding soft, semi-soft and surface-ripened cheeses — brie, camembert, ricotta, feta and blue — even when pasteurised, because of listeria risk, unless you cook them until steaming hot (for example, melted through a cooked dish).
Australian guidance suggests limiting caffeine to about 200mg a day. As a guide: an espresso-style coffee is around 145mg, an instant coffee about 80mg, a cup of tea around 50mg, and a can of cola around 40mg. Chocolate contains some too. Keeping under 200mg across the whole day is the goal.
Fish is great for baby, but watch mercury. FSANZ advises 2-3 serves per week of low-mercury fish (salmon, tinned tuna, prawns cooked hot). Limit orange roughy and catfish to 1 serve per week. Limit shark (flake), swordfish and marlin to 1 serve per fortnight with no other fish that week — many mums simply avoid these. All seafood must be cooked; avoid sushi and cold cooked prawns.
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