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Can I eat cooked ham while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Cooked ham heated until steaming hot shows Check in Doola Scan in all six countries. Cold sliced cooked ham, from a pack or the deli, shows Check in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland and Avoid in Australia and New Zealand. The countries ask different things of cold ham: the NHS asks for it kept chilled and eaten before its use-by date, the US asks for deli meats reheated to 165°F, and Australia and New Zealand ask for ham heated through before you eat it.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Cold sliced cooked ham, from a pack or the deli

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaIrelandAvoidAustraliaNew Zealand

  • Ham heated until steaming hot: baked, in a toastie or on a pizza

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

Cooked ham while pregnant: what each country says.

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

  • United States

    Check
    • FDAAvoid cold cuts and deli meats unless reheated until steaming hot (not just chilled and in date).Source
    • FDAListeria grows at fridge temperatures; heating kills it.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)Reheat hot dogs, deli meats and fermented or dry sausage to steaming hot or 165°F.Source
    • USDA FSISPregnant mothers should avoid deli meats and hot dogs not heated to 165°F.Source
    • FDAAvoid deli meats, fermented and dry sausage unless reheated until steaming hot.Source

  • United Kingdom

    Check
    • NHSChilled ready-to-eat meats can carry listeria.Source
    • NHSCold cured meats (salami, pepperoni, chorizo, prosciutto) should be cooked until steaming hot.Source
    • NHSCured meat may carry listeria or toxoplasma.Source

  • Canada

    Check
    • CPSAvoid non-dried deli meats (UK: fine if chilled and in date).Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid refrigerated non-dried deli meats unless heated until steaming hot.Source
    • CPSAvoid uncooked hot dogs and non-dried deli meats.Source
    • Health CanadaHot dogs not straight from pack - heat to 74 °C; avoid non-dried deli meats (bologna, roast beef, turkey) unless steaming hot.Source
    • CPSOnly non-dried deli meats are listed; dried cured meats are not.Source
    • Health CanadaDried and salted deli meats such as salami and pepperoni are listed as SAFER alternatives (no cooking/freezing needed).Source

  • Australia

    • Cold sliced cooked ham, from a pack or the deliAvoid
    • Ham heated until steaming hot: baked, in a toastie or on a pizzaCheck
    • FSANZAvoid cold RTE meats incl. packaged sliced meats and cold pre-cooked chicken; hot takeaway chicken OK if eaten immediately.Source
    • NSW HealthDo not eat pre-cooked cold chicken.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Cold pre-cooked meats and chicken only if further cooked or heated.Source
    • NSW Food AuthorityProcessed meats only if cooked to at least 75°C and eaten soon after.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)No cold ready-to-eat meats or cold cooked chicken unless heated to 75°C and eaten straight away.Source
    • NSW HealthDo not eat cold deli meats.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Deli meats only if further cooked or heated.Source
    • FSANZAvoid unpackaged deli-counter and packaged sliced cold meats unless freshly cooked or reheated steaming hot.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Processed meats only if cooked to at least 75°C and eaten straight away.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid ham, salami and fermented meats unless cooked or heated.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Avoid cold cured meats (salami, ham, luncheon meat) unless cooked to 75 °C and eaten straight away.Source

  • New Zealand

    • Cold sliced cooked ham, from a pack or the deliAvoid
    • Ham heated until steaming hot: baked, in a toastie or on a pizzaCheck
    • MPI (NZ Food Safety)Avoid cold cooked or smoked chicken and chilled RTE deli/buffet foods unless heated piping hot.Source
    • Health NZAvoid cold meats from deli counters and sandwich bars, and packaged sliced ready-to-eat meats.Source
    • MPI (NZ Food Safety)Avoid processed meats (ham, pâté, salami, luncheon) in pregnancy.Source

  • Ireland

    Check
    • HSEAvoid cold cured meats such as salami, parma ham, chorizo and pepperoni.Source
What to check

Before you eat cooked ham.

  1. In the UK, keep it chilled and within its use-by date

    The NHS lists processed, cold pre-cooked meats such as ham among the foods to be careful with, and asks you to keep them chilled and eat them before the use-by date. An open pack left out of the fridge, or past its date, doesn't meet that. NHS

  2. In the US and Canada, heat it until steaming hot

    FoodSafety.gov asks pregnant women to reheat deli meats until steaming hot or 165°F. Health Canada asks you to avoid refrigerated non-dried deli meats unless they're heated until steaming hot. FoodSafety.gov

  3. In Australia and New Zealand, heat it and eat it straight away

    Pregnancy, Birth and Baby asks you to avoid ham unless it's cooked to 75°C and eaten straight away. Health NZ asks for ham to be heated until piping hot, over 70°C, and advises against packaged sliced ready-to-eat meats. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby

Questions

About cooked ham
in pregnancy.

Cold cooked ham shows Check in the UK. The NHS asks for cold pre-cooked meats such as ham to be kept chilled and eaten before the use-by date, so a sealed pack in date, kept in the fridge, meets its line.

Sliced packet ham shows Check in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland and Avoid in Australia and New Zealand. Health NZ names packaged sliced ready-to-eat meats among foods to avoid, and the US asks for deli meats reheated to 165°F.

Ham served hot from the oven is ham heated until steaming hot, which shows Check in all six countries. Sliced cold the next day, it is cold cooked ham: Avoid in Australia and New Zealand, Check elsewhere.

The ham in a cold sandwich is cold sliced ham: Avoid in Australia and New Zealand and Check in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. A toasted sandwich heated until the ham is steaming shows Check in all six.

The guidance lowers a small risk; it isn't a sign that anything is wrong. If you're worried, or you have a fever, aches or an upset stomach, talk to your midwife or doctor.

The guidance is the same in every trimester. The advice on cold pre-cooked meats applies from the first weeks of pregnancy to the last.

The guidance treats them differently. The NHS puts prosciutto among cold cured meats to cook until steaming hot, while cooked ham is a cold pre-cooked meat to keep chilled. Parma ham shows Avoid in New Zealand and Ireland, and Ireland's HSE names it among cold cured meats to avoid.

Yes. Take a photo of the pack, the menu or the plate, and Doola Scan checks it against your country's pregnancy guidance, with what to ask, such as whether the ham is heated. Food scans are free, 3 a day.
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Point Doola at a plate, a menu or a label. It checks every ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance and shows its sources. 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.