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Can I eat smoked salmon while pregnant?

Check Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Smoked salmon and lox eaten cold show Check in Doola Scan in the US, UK and Canada and Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Cooked until steaming hot, in pasta, a quiche or scrambled eggs, smoked salmon shows Check in all six. The concern is listeria in chilled smoked fish: the NHS asks for cold-smoked fish to be cooked until steaming hot, FoodSafety.gov asks for refrigerated smoked seafood only in a cooked dish reaching 165°F, and Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says not to eat ready-to-eat smoked salmon.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Smoked salmon or lox eaten cold, cold-smoked or hot-smoked

    CheckUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaAvoidAustraliaNew ZealandIreland

  • Smoked salmon cooked until steaming hot in pasta, quiche or eggs

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

Smoked salmon while pregnant: what each country says.

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

  • United States

    Check
    • FDAFish is recommended but amounts limit mercury exposure.Source
    • FDAEat 2 to 3 servings (4 oz each) a week from Best Choices (salmon, sardines, herring, Atlantic mackerel); king mackerel is avoid.Source
    • FDAAvoid smoked fish unless reheated until steaming hot.Source
    • FDARefrigerated smoked seafood can carry listeria.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)Refrigerated smoked seafood only in a cooked dish reaching 165°F; canned or shelf-stable is OK.Source
    • USDA FSISAvoid refrigerated smoked seafood that is not canned, shelf-stable or fully cooked.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
    • NHSOily fish can contain pollutants that build up in the body.Source
    • FSAAvoid ready-to-eat cold-smoked or cured fish; cooked until steaming hot, or tinned, is a safer alternative.Source
    • NHSCold-smoked and cured fish can carry listeria.Source
    • NHSCold-smoked and cured fish (e.g. smoked salmon) must be cooked until steaming hot.Source

  • Canada

    Check
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury fish encouraged with no weekly amount; limit only fresh/frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy, escolar.Source
    • Health CanadaLow-mercury oily fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, trout) encouraged; no weekly cap.Source
    • CPSAvoid refrigerated smoked seafood and fish.Source
    • Health CanadaRefrigerated smoked fish/seafood fine only if cooked (e.g. casserole) or canned/shelf-stable.Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid refrigerated smoked seafood; canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood is the safer alternative.Source

  • Australia

    • Smoked salmon or lox eaten cold, cold-smoked or hot-smokedAvoid
    • Smoked salmon cooked until steaming hot in pasta, quiche or eggsCheck
    • 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
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Fish not high in mercury no more than 2 to 3 times a week; no separate oily-fish limit.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Do not eat ready-to-eat smoked salmon.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid smoked seafood that will not be further cooked.Source
    • FSANZAvoid smoked seafood unless freshly cooked or reheated steaming hot.Source
    • NSW HealthSmoked seafood only if cooked and served hot.Source
    • Better Health Channel (Victoria)Avoid smoked seafood such as salmon; canned is safe.Source
    • FSANZSmoked seafood: freshly cooked or reheated steaming hot.Source

  • New Zealand

    • Smoked salmon or lox eaten cold, cold-smoked or hot-smokedAvoid
    • Smoked salmon cooked until steaming hot in pasta, quiche or eggsCheck
    • Health NZMost commonly eaten NZ fish can be eaten freely; low-mercury species need no restriction.Source
    • Health NZNo pollutant-based oily fish cap; farmed salmon and mackerel 3-4 servings a week, sardines and anchovy unrestricted.Source
    • Health NZAvoid smoked ready-to-eat seafood.Source
    • Health NZChilled smoked or pre-cooked fish and seafood: don't eat unless heated until piping hot; canned fish OK.Source

  • Ireland

    • Smoked salmon or lox eaten cold, cold-smoked or hot-smokedAvoid
    • Smoked salmon cooked until steaming hot in pasta, quiche or eggsCheck
    • HSEAvoid raw or smoked fish.Source
    • HSEAvoid ready-to-eat cold-smoked or cured fish unless cooked until steaming hot.Source
What to check

Before you eat smoked salmon.

  1. Cook it until steaming hot

    The NHS says cold-smoked and cured fish, such as smoked salmon, should be cooked until steaming hot in pregnancy. FoodSafety.gov asks for refrigerated smoked seafood only in a cooked dish that reaches 165°F. NHS

  2. In Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, skip it cold

    Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says not to eat ready-to-eat smoked salmon, Health NZ says to avoid smoked ready-to-eat seafood, and Ireland's HSE lists smoked fish among the foods to avoid. FSANZ asks for smoked seafood freshly cooked or reheated until steaming hot. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby

  3. Canned salmon is the cold option

    Health Canada and FoodSafety.gov name canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood as the alternative to refrigerated smoked fish, and the UK FSA names tinned fish as the alternative. Health NZ says canned fish is OK. Health Canada

  4. Count it as oily fish

    The NHS lists salmon as an oily fish and asks pregnant women to have no more than 2 portions of oily fish a week. The FDA lists salmon among its Best Choices, 2 to 3 servings a week. NHS

Questions

About smoked salmon
in pregnancy.

Cold smoked salmon shows Check in the US, UK and Canada and Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Cooked until steaming hot, it shows Check in all six countries.

Lox shows Check in the US, UK and Canada and Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, the same as cold smoked salmon. On a bagel it is still eaten cold, so the advice on chilled smoked fish applies.

Doola Scan reads hot-smoked salmon eaten cold like other smoked salmon: Check in the US, UK and Canada, Avoid in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. The NHS says to eat only smoked fish products that have been thoroughly cooked.

The FDA says refrigerated smoked seafood can carry listeria, and USDA asks pregnant women to avoid it unless it is canned, shelf-stable or fully cooked. In a dish heated to 165°F, it shows Check.

Smoked salmon cooked in a hot dish shows Check in all six countries. Ireland's HSE asks for cold-smoked fish to be cooked until steaming hot, the same as the NHS.

The guidance is the same in every trimester. Cold smoked salmon has the same verdict from the first weeks to the last.

The guidance asks you to avoid cold smoked fish, or cook it, from now on. If you're worried, or you feel unwell, talk to your midwife or doctor.

Yes. Take a photo of the label or the dish, and Doola Scan checks it against your country's pregnancy guidance, cold or cooked. 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.