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Can I eat pâté while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Liver pâté shows Avoid in Doola Scan for the UK, Australia and Ireland, and every kind of pâté shows Avoid in Australia; elsewhere pâté shows Check. Two things decide it: listeria, which can grow in chilled pâté, and the vitamin A in liver. The FDA and Health Canada ask you not to eat refrigerated pâté and point to canned or shelf-stable pâté instead. Health NZ asks for pâté heated until piping hot, and the NHS asks you to avoid liver products, with its listeriosis page naming every type of pâté.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Liver pâté, such as chicken liver or pork liver pâté

    CheckUnited StatesCanadaNew ZealandAvoidUnited KingdomAustraliaIreland

  • Chilled meat pâté without liver

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaNew ZealandIrelandAvoidAustralia

  • Vegetable or mushroom pâté

    CheckUnited StatesCanadaNew ZealandIrelandAvoidUnited KingdomAustralia

  • Canned or shelf-stable pâté

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

Pâté while pregnant: what each country says.

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

  • United States

    Check
    • ACOGACOG recommends liver among iron-rich foods in pregnancy; no advice to avoid liver.Source
    • MotherToBabyPreformed vitamin A from animal foods such as liver: stay under the 3,000 mcg/day upper limit; very high intakes linked to birth defects.Source
    • FDARefrigerated pâté can carry listeria.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)No refrigerated pâté or meat spreads; canned or shelf-stable is safer.Source
    • CDCAvoid refrigerated pâté; choose shelf-stable pâté in sealed containers.Source
    • FDADo not eat refrigerated pâté or meat spreads; canned or shelf-stable pâté is fine.Source

  • United Kingdom

    • Liver pâté, such as chicken liver or pork liver pâtéAvoid
    • Chilled meat pâté without liverCheck
    • Vegetable or mushroom pâtéAvoid
    • Canned or shelf-stable pâtéCheck
    • NHSLiver is very high in vitamin A, which can harm a baby's development.Source
    • NHSMeat pâté: keep chilled and eat before the use-by date.Source
    • NHSChilled pâté can carry listeria.Source
    • NHSNHS listeriosis advice says to avoid all types of pâté in pregnancy, including vegetable pâté.Source

  • Canada

    Check
    • Health CanadaLimit (not avoid) liver and cod liver oil; stay under 3000 mcg RAE vitamin A a day.Source
    • CPSAvoid refrigerated pâté and meat spreads.Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid refrigerated pâtés and meat spreads; canned or shelf-stable ones are safer.Source
    • CPSAvoid refrigerated pâté and meat spreads (UK: fine if chilled and in date).Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid refrigerated pâtés and meat spreads; choose canned/shelf-stable.Source

  • Australia

    Avoid
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Liver is not recommended for women who are or could be pregnant (vitamin A).Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Avoid liver or liver products: high vitamin A can harm the baby.Source
    • NSW HealthDo not eat pâté or meat spreads.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Avoid all types of pâté.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid pâté eaten cold from delis or pre-packaged.Source
    • FSANZAvoid refrigerated pâté or meat spreads; canned or shelf-stable OK.Source
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat refrigerated pâté or meat spreads.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid pâté and meat spreads eaten cold.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Avoid all types of pâté (listeria).Source

  • New Zealand

    Check
    • Health NZLiver only in small amounts, no more than 100 g a week (vitamin A).Source
    • Health NZAvoid refrigerated pâté or meat spreads.Source
    • Health NZPâté and other processed meats: don't eat unless heated until piping hot (over 70°C).Source

  • Ireland

    • Liver pâté, such as chicken liver or pork liver pâtéAvoid
    • Chilled meat pâté without liverCheck
    • Vegetable or mushroom pâtéCheck
    • Canned or shelf-stable pâtéCheck
    • HSEAvoid liver, including liver sausage, haggis and pâté containing liver.Source
What to check

Before you eat pâté.

  1. Leave out liver pâté in the UK, Australia and Ireland

    The NHS, Pregnancy, Birth and Baby and the HSE list liver and liver products, including pâté containing liver, as foods to avoid, because liver is very high in vitamin A. Health Canada asks you to limit liver, and Health NZ sets no more than 100 g a week. NHS

  2. Choose canned or shelf-stable over chilled

    Health Canada asks pregnant women to avoid refrigerated pâtés and meat spreads and to choose canned or shelf-stable ones. The FDA and FSANZ give the same advice. In Australia, Pregnancy, Birth and Baby goes further and says to avoid all types of pâté. Health Canada

  3. In New Zealand, heat it until piping hot

    Health NZ's pregnancy guide says not to eat pâté and other processed meats unless they're heated until piping hot, over 70°C. A pâté baked into a hot pie or a sauce is heated; pâté spread cold on toast is not. Health NZ

  4. Check vegetable pâté too

    The NHS listeriosis page asks you to avoid all types of pâté in pregnancy, including vegetable pâté, and Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says the same. Doola Scan shows Avoid for vegetable pâté in the UK and Australia, and Check elsewhere. NHS

Questions

About pâté
in pregnancy.

The guidance gives two reasons. Chilled pâté can carry listeria, which the FDA says grows at fridge temperatures, and liver pâté is very high in vitamin A, which the NHS says can harm a baby's development.

Chicken liver pâté shows Avoid in the UK, Australia and Ireland, where liver is on the foods-to-avoid list, and Check in the US, Canada and New Zealand. Health NZ sets no more than 100 g of liver a week.

Canned or shelf-stable pâté shows Check in five countries and Avoid in Australia. The FDA, Health Canada and FSANZ name canned or shelf-stable pâté as the one to choose, while Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says to avoid all types.

Both are liver products. They show Avoid in the UK, Australia and Ireland and Check in the US, Canada and New Zealand. Ireland's HSE names liver sausage and pâté containing liver among foods to avoid.

If you've eaten pâté and you're worried, talk to your midwife or doctor. They can tell you what to look out for.

The NHS foods-to-avoid page asks for meat pâté to be kept chilled and eaten before the use-by date, so Doola Scan shows Check for it in the UK. The NHS listeriosis page asks you to avoid all types of pâté. Both are NHS guidance, so we show both.

Liver pâté shows Avoid in the UK, Australia and Ireland, and every kind of pâté shows Avoid in Australia. In the US, Canada and New Zealand it shows Check: those countries ask for canned or shelf-stable pâté, or pâté heated until piping hot.

Yes. Take a photo of the pack, the menu or the plate, and Doola Scan checks every ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance, including whether a pâté contains liver. 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.