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Can I eat anchovies while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Anchovies, canned, on pizza or cooked fresh, show Check in Doola Scan in all six countries: they count towards your weekly fish. The FDA lists anchovy among its Best Choices, its lowest-mercury group, at 2 to 3 servings a week. Health NZ puts anchovy among the fish with no limit, and Health Canada sets no weekly amount for low-mercury fish. In the UK, Doola Scan applies the NHS limit of no more than 2 portions of oily fish a week, and Australia suggests most fish 2 to 3 times a week.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Canned or jarred anchovy fillets

    CheckIn all six countries

  • On pizza, in pasta sauce or as anchovy paste

    CheckIn all six countries

  • Fresh anchovies, fried or grilled

    CheckIn all six countries

  • Dried anchovies (ikan bilis, myeolchi)

    CheckIn all six countries
Doola Scan checking a plate
What each country says

Anchovies while pregnant: what each country says.

Each country's own pregnancy guidance on anchovies, with a link to it. Doola Scan uses your country's first.

  • Doola has no source from Ireland on this yet; its answer comes from the other countries' guidance.

  • United States

    Check
    • FDAFish is recommended but amounts limit mercury exposure.Source
    • FDAEat 2 to 3 servings (4 oz each) a week from Best Choices (salmon, sardines, herring, Atlantic mackerel); king mackerel is avoid.Source
    Caesar dressing made with raw egg
    • FDAAvoid raw or undercooked eggs and foods containing them; foods made with pasteurized eggs are fine.Source

  • United Kingdom

    Check
    • NHSTrying for a baby or pregnant: max 2 oily fish portions (140g) a week; tuna max 4 cans or 2 steaks a week.Source
    • NHSOily fish can contain pollutants that build up in the body.Source
    Caesar dressing made with raw egg
    • NHSRaw eggs that are not Lion-stamped may carry salmonella.Source

  • Canada

    Check
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury fish encouraged with no weekly amount; limit only fresh/frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy, escolar.Source
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury oily fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, trout) encouraged; no weekly cap.Source
    Caesar dressing made with raw egg
    • CPSAvoid raw egg and egg dishes with runny yolk.Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid raw-egg foods (homemade mayonnaise, batter, ice cream) unless made with pasteurized liquid eggs.Source

  • Australia

    Check
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Other fish or seafood no more than 2 to 3 times a week (150 g serve).Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Fish not high in mercury no more than 2 to 3 times a week; no separate oily-fish limit.Source
    Caesar dressing made with raw egg
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat raw egg in food (home-made mayonnaise, aioli, mousse, batter).Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)No homemade mayonnaise, aioli, mousse or raw cake batter; commercial mayo/custard OK.Source

  • New Zealand

    Check
    • Health NZMost commonly eaten NZ fish can be eaten freely; low-mercury species need no restriction.Source
    • Health NZNo pollutant-based oily fish cap; farmed salmon and mackerel 3-4 servings a week, sardines and anchovy unrestricted.Source
    Caesar dressing made with raw egg
    • MPI (NZ Food Safety)Avoid raw eggs (smoothies, mayonnaise, mousse).Source

  • Ireland

    Check
    Caesar dressing made with raw egg
    • HSEAvoid foods made with raw or under-cooked eggs, e.g. homemade mayonnaise; cook eggs thoroughly.Source
What to check

Before you eat anchovies.

  1. Count anchovies in your weekly fish

    The FDA asks pregnant women to eat 2 to 3 servings a week from its Best Choices list, and anchovy is on it. A serving is 4 ounces. In the UK, the NHS asks for no more than 2 portions of oily fish a week in pregnancy. FDA

  2. Ask whether marinated anchovies were cooked

    If marinated anchovies, such as boquerones, were not cooked, they are raw fish. The FDA asks pregnant women to avoid raw or undercooked fish and shellfish, naming sashimi and ceviche. When you can't tell, ask how they were made. FDA

  3. Go easy on salted anchovies

    The NHS lists cured meats and fish among the salty foods to eat less often, and asks adults to have no more than 6g of salt a day, about 1 teaspoon. Salted anchovies in a sauce or on a pizza add to that. NHS

Questions

About anchovies
in pregnancy.

The FDA puts anchovy on its Best Choices list, its lowest-mercury group. Health NZ lists anchovy among the fish with no limit in pregnancy, and Health Canada limits only fresh or frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy and escolar.

Canned and jarred anchovy fillets show Check in Doola Scan in all six countries, for the weekly fish amount. They are salty, and the NHS lists cured fish among the salty foods to eat less often.

Anchovy pizza shows Check in all six countries, like other anchovies. Count the anchovies towards your fish for the week.

None of these countries' pregnancy food lists names boquerones. Doola Scan reads marinated anchovies as Check, for the weekly fish amount, but if they were marinated raw, the raw fish advice applies: FoodSafety.gov lists ceviche, fish marinated in citrus, among the foods to avoid. Ask how they were made.

Caesar dressing shows Check in the US, UK and Canada and Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, because of raw egg, not the anchovies. NSW Food Authority says not to eat raw egg in foods such as homemade mayonnaise and aioli.

The FDA lists anchovy among its Best Choices and says fish supply omega-3 fats, iron, iodine and choline, which support a baby's brain development, as well as protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D and selenium.

In the US, the FDA's Best Choices, anchovy included, are 2 to 3 servings a week of 4 ounces each. In the UK, the NHS limit is 2 portions of oily fish a week, and Australia suggests most fish 2 to 3 times a week. Health Canada and Health NZ set no weekly amount for anchovies.

Yes. Take a photo of the plate, the menu or the jar's label, and Doola Scan checks every ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance. Food scans are free, 3 a day.
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Doola shows what official guidance says; it never diagnoses. No known issues means none of these countries' pregnancy guidance names it, not a promise that a food is safe.