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Can I eat fish sticks while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Fish sticks, or fish fingers, show Check in Doola Scan in all six countries once cooked until hot all the way through: the fish counts towards your weekly fish. Check the pack for the fish: pollock and cod are both on the FDA's Best Choices list, 2 to 3 servings a week. Australia suggests most fish 2 to 3 times a week, and Canada and New Zealand set no weekly amount for low-mercury fish. Seafood sticks are different: they are imitation crab, which shows Avoid cold in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Pollock fish sticks, oven-baked or air-fried

    CheckIn all six countries

  • Cod fish fingers

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

Fish sticks while pregnant: what each country says.

Each country's own pregnancy guidance on fish sticks, 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
    Seafood sticks and crab sticks (imitation crab)
    • FDAPreviously cooked seafood is lower risk when reheated to 165°F; partially cooked shrimp and crab are higher risk.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
    Seafood sticks and crab sticks (imitation crab)
    • NHSChilled ready-to-eat seafood can carry listeria.Source

  • Canada

    Check
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury fish encouraged with no weekly amount; limit only fresh/frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy, escolar.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
    Seafood sticks and crab sticks (imitation crab)
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat ready-to-eat chilled peeled prawns.Source
    • NSW HealthDo not eat chilled ready-to-eat prawns.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Do not eat pre-cooked prawns.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid cooked, chilled seafood such as peeled prawns unless cooked again.Source
    • FSANZAvoid chilled cooked prawns; eat freshly cooked or reheated steaming hot.Source

  • New Zealand

    Check
    • Health NZMost commonly eaten NZ fish can be eaten freely; low-mercury species need no restriction.Source
    Seafood sticks and crab sticks (imitation crab)
    • Health NZAvoid cooked ready-to-eat prawns.Source

  • Ireland

    Check
    Seafood sticks and crab sticks (imitation crab)
    • HSEAvoid clams, oysters, scallops, prawns, mussels - risk highest if pre-cooked.Source
What to check

Before you eat fish sticks.

  1. Cook them until hot all the way through

    The FDA asks for most seafood cooked to 145°F, and says fish is done when it separates easily with a fork. Health Canada gives 70°C (158°F) for fish. FDA

  2. Count fish sticks in your weekly fish

    The FDA asks pregnant women to eat 2 to 3 servings a week from its Best Choices, which include pollock and cod. A serving is 4 ounces. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby suggests most fish 2 to 3 times a week. FDA

  3. In Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, eat seafood sticks hot or not at all

    Better Health Channel asks you to avoid cooked, chilled seafood unless it is cooked again, and Health NZ and the HSE name pre-cooked seafood. Cold crab sticks show Avoid there and Check in the US, UK and Canada. Better Health Channel

Questions

About fish sticks
in pregnancy.

Fish sticks show Check in Doola Scan in all six countries, cooked until hot. The check is the weekly amount of fish, as for any white fish.

Fish fingers show Check in the UK. The NHS suggests 2 portions of fish a week in pregnancy, one of them oily, and names cod, haddock and pollock as white fish.

Seafood sticks and crab sticks are imitation crab. Cold, they show Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and Check in the US, UK and Canada; cooked until steaming hot, they show Check in all six.

Pollock and cod are on the FDA's Best Choices list, its lowest-mercury group. Health Canada limits only fresh or frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy and escolar.

The verdict is the same however you heat them: Check in all six countries. What the FDA asks for is fish cooked to 145°F, so cook them until hot all the way through.

The FDA says fish supply omega-3 fats, iron, iodine and choline, as well as protein. The NHS notes that frying can increase the fat content of fish, especially in batter, and suggests baked or grilled fish.

The guidance is the same in every trimester. Fish sticks show Check from the first weeks to the third trimester, within the weekly fish amount.

Yes. Take a photo of the box'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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Not sure about a meal? Scan it.

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.