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Can I eat hummus while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Hummus, store-bought or homemade, gets Avoid in Doola Scan in Australia and Check in the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. The reason is the tahini: NSW Food Authority says not to eat store-bought or home-made hummus, tahini or other sesame pastes in pregnancy, and Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says sesame-paste products have been linked to salmonella. New Zealand's MPI pregnancy booklet asks you to avoid hummus and other dips containing tahini. Doola has no US, UK, Canadian or Irish source on hummus yet, so its Check there follows Australia's and New Zealand's guidance. The chickpeas themselves show No known issues.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Store-bought hummus from a tub

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaNew ZealandIrelandAvoidAustralia

  • Homemade hummus with tahini

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaNew ZealandIrelandAvoidAustralia

  • Flavoured hummus, like roasted red pepper

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaNew ZealandIrelandAvoidAustralia
Doola Scan checking a plate
What each country says

Hummus while pregnant: what each country says.

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

  • Doola has no source from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland on this yet; their answer comes from the other countries' guidance.

  • Australia

    Avoid
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat store-bought or home-made hummus, tahini or other sesame pastes.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Sesame-paste products have been linked to salmonella.Source

  • New Zealand

    Check
    • MPI (NZ Food Safety)Avoid hummus and other dips containing tahini in pregnancy.Source
What to check

Before you eat hummus.

  1. In Australia, leave hummus and tahini out

    NSW Food Authority says not to eat store-bought or home-made hummus, tahini or other sesame pastes in pregnancy. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby gives the reason: sesame-paste products have been linked to salmonella. NSW Food Authority

  2. In New Zealand, skip dips made with tahini

    New Zealand's MPI pregnancy booklet asks you to avoid hummus and other dips containing tahini. Baba ganoush is made with tahini too, so Doola Scan reads it the same way. MPI (NZ Food Safety)

Questions

About hummus
in pregnancy.

Doola Scan shows Avoid for hummus in Australia and Check in the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. NSW Food Authority says not to eat it in pregnancy, and New Zealand's MPI asks you to avoid dips containing tahini. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says sesame-paste products have been linked to salmonella.

Store-bought hummus shows Avoid in Australia and Check in the other five countries. NSW Food Authority names store-bought hummus and home-made hummus alike, so making it yourself doesn't change the Australian answer.

Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says sesame-paste products, like the tahini in hummus, have been linked to salmonella. NSW Food Authority lists hummus, tahini and other sesame pastes among the foods not to eat in pregnancy.

The chickpeas in hummus show No known issues. The NHS lists chickpeas among the good sources of folate, and MyHealthfinder lists beans, peas and lentils among the plant-based protein foods for pregnancy.

The guidance is about what to eat from here on; it doesn't ask you to do anything about hummus already eaten. If you feel unwell or are worried, call your midwife or doctor.

The guidance is the same in every trimester. Australia's and New Zealand's advice on hummus and tahini applies all through pregnancy.

Doola Scan muestra Avoid para el hummus en Australia y Check en Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Canadá, Nueva Zelanda e Irlanda. La NSW Food Authority de Australia dice que no se coma hummus ni tahini durante el embarazo, y Pregnancy, Birth and Baby relaciona las pastas de sésamo con la salmonela.

Yes. Take a photo of the tub's label, the plate or the menu, and Doola Scan checks every ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance, tahini, falafel and pita included. 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.