What to eat when pregnant
You may like to print this page and keep it as a handy reference on the fridge when shopping or dining out to ensure you have a safe pregnancy. You can also download our pullout guide. It has the same information.
Food safety in pregnancy [PDF, 1.8 MB]
More information about food nutrition in pregnancy is available on the Ministry of Health website.
Eating safely and well during pregnancy – Ministry of Health
Guide to food safety in pregnancy
| FOOD TYPE | WHAT TO DO | |
|---|---|---|
| Breads and cereals | ||
| Breads | All types | OK to eat |
| Cakes, slices, muffins | Plain | OK to eat |
| With added cream or custard | Don't eat (unless cream is newly opened and custard is home-made and fresh) | |
| Cereals | Breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, and similar | OK to eat – refer to dairy products below for advice on milk. This advice does not cover fresh pasta with filled varieties. Check advice specific to the filling if available |
| Dairy | ||
| Cheese | Low acid soft pasteurised cheese (for example, brie, camembert, blue, ricotta, paneer cheese, mozzarella, feta, haloumi) | Do not eat unless cooked |
| Hard cheese (for example, cheddar, parmesan) | OK to eat. Store in fridge | |
| Pasteurised cottage cheese, cream cheese or similar | Buy in sealed packs. Eat cold within 2 days of opening the pack or eat cooked until “best before” date on the packaging | |
| Butter | All types | OK to eat. Store in fridge |
| Cream | Fresh, unwhipped or whipped, sour cream and similar | Buy in sealed packs. Keep the cream refrigerated in the original packaging and take care to prevent contamination when using. Eat within 2 days of opening pack |
| Custard | Ready-made chilled (packaged) | Keep refrigerated in original packaging and eat within 2 days of opening. |
| Home-made | Eat hot immediately after cooking. Reheat leftovers until piping hot (over 70°C) and eat immediately | |
| Milk | Pasteurised | Keep milk refrigerated in the original packaging. Take care not to contaminate lids when using and consume before the manufacturer’s best before date |
| Ice cream | Packaged | OK to eat |
| Soft serve | Don't eat | |
| Yoghurt | Pasteurised | For commercially produced yoghurts follow the manufacturer’s advice on the package |
| Unpasteurised milk and dairy products | All types of unpasteurised (raw) milk and dairy products (cheese, cream yoghurt and similar) | Don’t eat |
| Eggs | ||
| Raw eggs | In egg flips, eggnog, smoothies, home-made mayonnaise and dressings, home-made ice cream, mousse and tiramisu, and similar | Don't eat |
| Cooked eggs | Fried, scrambled, baked, poached, and similar | Cook well (firm yolks, firm scrambled eggs) |
| Meat and poultry |
||
| Cooked meats | Beef, pork, chicken, mince, sausages, and similar | Cook until piping hot throughout, and until juices run clear (use a meat thermometer to check temperatures). Eat while hot, never eat rare or undercooked meats. Store leftovers covered in the fridge and eat within 2 days. Reheat leftovers and cold cooked meats until piping hot (over 70°C) |
| Processed meats | Ham, salami, luncheon, pâté, pastrami, biltong, or jerky (dried meat), and similar | Don't eat unless heated until piping hot (over 70°C) |
| Cold cooked poultry | Any cold pre-cooked poultry (for example, chicken and turkey) | Don't eat unless heated until piping hot (over 70°C) |
| Raw meat | Any raw meat, raw chicken or other poultry, beef, pork, and similar | Don't eat or taste. Don't touch face, mouth or eyes while preparing. Wash and dry hands well after touching raw meat |
| Seafood | ||
| Raw fish | Any raw fish (including marinated raw fish) | Don't eat |
| Raw shellfish | Any raw shellfish (including marinated raw mussels) | Don't eat |
| Smoked fish, shellfish and crustacea | Chilled, pre-cooked fish, mussels, oysters*, scallops*, salmon, crayfish, prawns, and similar | Don't eat unless heated until piping hot (over 70°C) |
| Freshly cooked fish, mussels, oysters, crayfish, scallops, and similar | Make sure that it’s cooked thoroughly until piping hot (over 70°C) throughout. Eat while hot | |
| Vegetables, salads, and fruits | ||
| Fruit | All fresh fruits | Wash and dry well just before eating. Whole melons should be thoroughly washed and dried before cutting. Frozen berries should be cooked before eating |
| Imported frozen berries | Cook | |
| Vegetables | All fresh vegetables | Wash and dry well just before eating raw, or wash before cooking |
| Frozen vegetables | Cook. Don't eat uncooked frozen vegetables | |
| Salads | Salads: Pre-packaged salads such as mesclun and spinach, ready-made salads, and coleslaws from delis, salad bars, or similar. Vegetable-based salads, pasta salads, rice salads, fruit salads, or similar |
Don't eat |
| Herbs | Dried herbs | Cook thoroughly |
| Fresh home-grown and store-bought | Wash well before using | |
| Other types of food | ||
| Leftovers | Cooked foods | Store leftovers covered in the fridge and eat within 2 days. Reheat leftovers until piping hot (over 70°C). Never eat cold leftovers |
| Canned foods | Canned fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood, meat, sauces, and similar | Remove from the can for storage. Store uneaten leftovers covered in the fridge and eat within 2 days |
| Sauces, dressings and spreads | Commercially manufactured salad dressings (oil and vinegar), bought mayonnaise, tomato sauce, margarine-type spreads, or similar | Store in the fridge once opened. Check maximum storage time. Handle any heat-and-eat sauce products according to the manufacturer’s instructions |
| Sushi | Store-bought (all types – even without raw seafood) | Don't eat |
| Home-made | Use freshly cooked rice, and don't use raw or cold cooked meat or seafood. Eat immediately. Don't eat leftovers | |
| Stuffing | Stuffing from chicken or turkey | Don't eat unless stuffing is cooked separately (in a dish). Eat hot. Store leftovers in the fridge and eat within 2 days. Reheat leftovers until piping hot (over 70°C) |
| Hummus and other dips containing tahini | Store-bought or home-made | Don't eat |
| Seaweed | Brown seaweed** (like kelp, kombu, wakame, arame, quandai-cai, hiziki/hijiki, or Sargassum fusiforme) | Limit to 1 serve a week |
| Red or green seaweed (including nori and karengo) used in sushi and dulse | OK to eat. See advice on sushi | |
| Sprouts and enoki mushrooms | Seed sprouts (alfalfa, mung bean, lentil, chickpea, broccoli, radish, pea, snow pea, adzuki) and enoki mushrooms | Don’t eat unless cooked |
| Fruit juice, kombucha and cider (non-alcoholic) | Pasteurised | OK to drink |
| Unpasteurised (raw) | Don’t drink | |
*Bluff and Pacific oysters and queen scallops contain more cadmium than other foods. We recommend you eat these shellfish only once a month during pregnancy.
**Brown seaweeds contain naturally very high iodine concentrations. Brown seaweeds are typically sold dry and are used in soups, stewed dishes, kelp salt and seaweed salads.
Recommended servings for fish species to minimise mercury intakes
No restriction necessary
Anchovy • Arrow squid • Barracouta • Blue cod • Brill/Turbot • Brown trout (except from Lake Ellesmere) • Cockles • Eel, long or short-finned • Elephant fish • Flounders • Gemfish • Gurnard • Hoki • John Dory • Ling • Monkfish or stargazer • Mussels (green and blue) • Orange perch • Orange Roughy • Oreo dories • Oysters (except Bluff and Pacific) • Parore • Scallops (except Queen) • Rainbow trout (only from non-geothermal regions) • Skipjack tuna (No data for yellowfin tuna) • Smooth oreo • Sole (except Lemon sole) • Southern blue whiting • Surf clams (for example, tuatua) • Tarakihi • Toothfish, Antarctic • Warehou (common, silver and white) • Whitebait (Inanga)
3 – 4 servings a week acceptable
Albacore tuna • Alfonsino • Bass • Bluenose • Ghost sharks • Hake • Hapuka (Groper) • Javelin Fish • Kahawai • Kingfish • Lake Taupo trout • Leatherjacket • Lemon sole • Mackerel (blue and jack) • Red cod • Ribaldo • Rig (Lemonfish, Spotted dogfish) • Rock Lobster • Salmon (farmed) • Sea perch • Silverside • Skate • Snapper • Sprats • Trevally
1 serving every 1 to 2 weeks acceptable
Cardinal fish • Dogfish (excluding rig) • Lake Rotomahana trout • Lake trout from geothermal regions • School shark (Greyboy, Tope) • Marlin (striped) • Southern bluefin tuna • Swordfish
