Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy: The Complete List

Most food is completely safe during pregnancy — the list of things to genuinely avoid is shorter than it can feel when advice is scattered across dozens of sources. Here is the complete, NHS-aligned list in one place, grouped by why each item is flagged, with links through to the full reasoning and precautions for each.

Avoid due to Listeria risk

Listeria is unusual among foodborne bacteria because it can survive and slowly multiply even in a properly cold fridge, and while infection is rare, it poses a more serious risk in pregnancy than in the general population. This is why the avoid list clusters heavily around high-moisture, ready-to-eat foods. See our full guide to Listeria in pregnancy for the reasoning behind this whole category.

• Brie, Camembert, Gorgonzola, and other soft, mould-ripened cheese — safe if cooked until piping hot throughout.
• Unpasteurised milk and products made from it.
• Pâté — all types, including vegetable pâté, due to Listeria risk.
• Alfalfa sprouts and other raw sprouted seeds — cook thoroughly instead of eating raw.
• Oysters — raw oysters specifically; cooked oysters are safe.
• Unpasteurised juice — check labels on fresh-pressed or artisan juice.

Note: not all blue cheese is on this list — hard, crumbly blue cheeses like Stilton are safe. It’s the soft, high-moisture texture that matters, not the colour. See our Stilton & Hard Blue Cheese page for the distinction.

Avoid due to very high vitamin A (retinol)

• Liver and liver products (including liver pâté, covered above) — very high in preformed vitamin A, which can be harmful to a developing baby in large amounts. See our full guide to vitamin A in pregnancy — this is specifically about liver, not vitamin A generally, which remains an essential nutrient.

Avoid due to mercury

• Shark, swordfish, and marlin — avoid entirely due to high mercury levels, which can affect a baby’s developing nervous system.

Other fish don’t need to be avoided but do need portion limits — see our full guide to fish and mercury in pregnancy for the two-portions-a-week oily fish guidance and which fish fall into which category.

Avoid due to raw preparation or bacterial/parasite risk

• Sushi made with raw fish — cooked sushi (such as rolls made with cooked prawns or vegetables) is fine.
• Raw or undercooked meat generally — always cook meat thoroughly until no pink remains and juices run clear.
• Raw or lightly cooked eggs without the British Lion mark — see the eggs page for the full Lion scheme explanation.

Avoid due to alcohol content or unstudied ingredients

• Alcohol — avoided entirely throughout pregnancy, as there is no known safe level.
• Energy drinks — very high caffeine combined with other stimulants not well studied in pregnancy.
• Hibiscus tea and sage tea — generally advised against.

See our full guide to what to drink during pregnancy for caffeine limits and the full rundown of herbal teas, most of which are fine.

A few specific individual foods

• Haggis — traditional haggis contains liver, so it falls under the vitamin A caution above.
• Venison & Game — wild game shot with lead ammunition can carry lead fragments; farmed or lead-free-sourced venison, well cooked, doesn’t carry this specific concern.

What this list doesn’t include

Notice what’s absent: most cheese, most fish, all fruit and vegetables (washed), all properly cooked meat, eggs (Lion-marked, in any form), caffeine (in moderation), and the vast majority of everyday food. The avoid list is short and specific by design — if a food you’re wondering about isn’t mentioned here, it’s very likely one of the many things that’s simply fine. Use our full foods directory to check any specific item, or see our guide on food safety at home for the general hygiene principles — safe storage, reheating, and preparation — that apply across all cooking during pregnancy.