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Can I eat mayonnaise while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottle shows No known issues in Doola Scan for all six countries; homemade mayonnaise made with raw egg is a different case. The FDA says commercial mayonnaise contains pasteurised eggs, and Australia's Pregnancy Birth and Baby says commercially made products with egg, such as mayonnaise, can be eaten. For homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli, Doola Scan shows Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, and Check in the US, UK and Canada. The UK accepts it made with British Lion or Laid in Britain hen eggs, and the US and Canada with pasteurised egg.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottle

    No known issuesIn all six countries

  • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw egg

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaAvoidAustraliaNew ZealandIreland

  • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaise

    No known issuesIn all six countries
Doola Scan checking a plate
What each country says

Mayonnaise while pregnant: what each country says.

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

  • United States

    • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottleNo known issues
    • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw eggCheck
    • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaiseNo known issues
    • FDAAvoid raw or undercooked eggs and foods containing them; foods made with pasteurized eggs are fine.Source
    • FDARaw eggs can carry salmonella.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)Foods with raw or lightly cooked eggs only with pasteurised eggs.Source

  • United Kingdom

    • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottleNo known issues
    • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw eggCheck
    • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaiseNo known issues
    • NHSRaw eggs that are not Lion-stamped may carry salmonella.Source
    • NHSRaw-egg foods like mayonnaise and mousse fine if made with British Lion or Laid in Britain hen eggs.Source

  • Canada

    • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottleNo known issues
    • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw eggCheck
    • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaiseNo known issues
    • 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
    • CPSAvoid raw egg and egg dishes with runny yolk, such as eggnog.Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid foods with raw egg: some dressings, sauces, cookie dough, cake batter, homemade eggnog (unless heated to 71 °C).Source

  • Australia

    • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottleNo known issues
    • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw eggAvoid
    • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaiseNo known issues
    • 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
    • FSANZSafer alternatives to raw egg dishes: pasteurised eggs, commercial custard and dressings.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Commercially made products with egg (e.g. shop mayonnaise) are fine; not homemade mayonnaise, aioli, mousse or raw cake batter.Source

  • New Zealand

    • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottleNo known issues
    • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw eggAvoid
    • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaiseNo known issues
    • MPI (NZ Food Safety)Avoid raw eggs (smoothies, mayonnaise, mousse).Source
    • Health NZRaw eggs in eggnog, smoothies, home-made mayonnaise, mousse, tiramisu etc: don't eat; no pasteurised-egg exception.Source

  • Ireland

    • Shop-bought mayonnaise in a jar or squeeze bottleNo known issues
    • Homemade or fresh-made mayonnaise and aioli with raw eggAvoid
    • Egg mayonnaise: hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaiseNo known issues
    • HSEAvoid foods made with raw or under-cooked eggs, e.g. homemade mayonnaise; cook eggs thoroughly.Source
    • HSEAvoid foods made with raw or under-cooked eggs, such as homemade mayonnaise.Source
What to check

Before you eat mayonnaise.

  1. Shop-bought: store it as the jar says

    Pregnancy Birth and Baby says you can eat commercially made products containing egg, such as mayonnaise, and to store them correctly. Once a jar is open, keep it as its label says. Pregnancy Birth and Baby

  2. Making it at home: pasteurised or British Lion eggs

    Health Canada asks for pasteurised liquid eggs in foods with raw egg that won't be cooked, and names homemade mayonnaise. In the UK, the NHS accepts mayonnaise made with British Lion or Laid in Britain hen eggs. Ireland's HSE and Health NZ advise against homemade mayonnaise. Health Canada

  3. Eating out, ask how the mayo or aioli is made

    The FDA lists homemade and fresh-made dressings and sauces made with raw eggs among foods to avoid. Its advice when eating out is to ask if pasteurised eggs were used. FDA

  4. Egg mayonnaise: boil the eggs until firm

    The FDA asks for eggs cooked until the yolk and white are firm, and Pregnancy Birth and Baby until both are hard. The FDA's storage chart gives egg salads 3 to 5 days in the fridge. FDA

Questions

About mayonnaise
in pregnancy.

Shop-bought mayonnaise: Doola Scan shows No known issues for it in all six countries. The FDA says commercial mayonnaise contains pasteurised eggs. Homemade mayonnaise is the one the guidance names, unless it's made with pasteurised eggs or, in the UK, British Lion eggs.

The FDA says commercial mayonnaise, dressings and sauces contain pasteurised eggs. Homemade mayonnaise is made with pasteurised egg only if you use pasteurised eggs, which the FDA says are labelled pasteurised.

These are shop-bought mayonnaise, which Doola Scan shows as No known issues in all six countries. The FDA says commercial mayonnaise contains pasteurised eggs. If you want to be sure, the jar's own label lists its ingredients.

Doola Scan shows No known issues for hard-boiled egg in shop-bought mayonnaise in all six countries. Boil the eggs until the yolk and white are firm, as the FDA and Pregnancy Birth and Baby ask, and keep it in the fridge.

The NHS says foods like mayonnaise made with raw eggs can be eaten if the eggs are British Lion or Laid in Britain hen eggs. Other hen eggs, and duck, goose or quail eggs, should be well cooked, so not used raw in mayonnaise.

Ireland's HSE asks you to avoid foods made with raw or under-cooked eggs, such as homemade mayonnaise. Australia's NSW Food Authority and Pregnancy Birth and Baby say no homemade mayonnaise or aioli, and Health NZ names home-made mayonnaise among raw-egg foods not to eat. Doola Scan shows No known issues for shop-bought mayonnaise in all three.

Pregnancy Birth and Baby names aioli with homemade mayonnaise as raw-egg foods not to eat, and FSANZ names commercial aioli as the lower-risk choice. In a restaurant, ask whether the aioli is made in the kitchen with raw egg or comes from a jar.

The guidance on mayonnaise and raw egg is the same in every trimester. None of these countries changes it from the first weeks to the last.

None of these countries' pregnancy food lists names mayonnaise as good for pregnancy. The NHS asks for foods high in fat to be had less often and in small amounts, and suggests small amounts of foods rich in unsaturated fat, such as vegetable oils.

Yes. Take a photo of the jar's label, the menu or the plate, and Doola Scan checks each 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.