Liver & Pâté
Liver and all types of pâté — including vegetable pâté — should be avoided during pregnancy due to high vitamin A content and Listeria risk.
The NHS advises avoiding liver and liver products, including pâté and liver sausage, throughout pregnancy. Liver is very high in vitamin A in the form of retinol. While vitamin A is an essential nutrient, too much retinol during pregnancy can cause harm to your developing baby. This applies to all types of liver — beef, chicken, lamb, and pork. All types of pâté should also be avoided, including vegetable pâté. This is because pâté can contain Listeria bacteria, which causes listeriosis — an infection that can be particularly dangerous in pregnancy and may lead to miscarriage or stillbirth.
What to be aware of
- Avoid all liver — including chicken livers, beef liver, and lamb's liver.
- Avoid all types of pâté, including fish and vegetable varieties.
- Avoid liver sausage and haggis (which contains liver).
- Do not take vitamin A or retinol supplements during pregnancy unless advised by a doctor.
- Multivitamins marketed for pregnancy do not contain retinol for this reason — check labels of any other supplements.
NHS guidance: https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
US guidance
US FDA guidance is consistent with NHS advice — liver and all pâtés should be avoided in pregnancy due to both vitamin A toxicity and potential Listeria contamination.