GUIDE
Listeria and Pregnancy
Listeria is a serious but preventable foodborne illness — pregnant women are at 10 times higher risk.
Understanding which foods to avoid and how to handle food safely can virtually eliminate your risk.
Be prepared from day one
What Is Listeria?
Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium found in soil, water, and some animal products. What makes it uniquely dangerous is its ability to grow at refrigerator temperatures (40°F and below) — a trick most foodborne bacteria can't pull off. This means that properly refrigerated food can still harbor growing listeria if it was contaminated.
For healthy, non-pregnant adults, listeriosis usually causes mild, self-limiting gastroenteritis. But during pregnancy, your immune system is naturally suppressed to protect the fetus, making you approximately 10 times more susceptible to listeria infection. The consequences are also far more severe — listeria can cross the placenta and infect the baby, causing miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm delivery, or life-threatening neonatal infection.
The good news: listeriosis is preventable. By understanding which foods carry risk and how to handle food safely, you can virtually eliminate your exposure.
For a complete list of foods to avoid during pregnancy, see our complete food safety guide.
How to Protect Yourself
- Cook all meats to safe internal temperatures — 165°F for poultry, 145°F for whole cuts
- Heat deli meats and hot dogs until steaming hot (165°F) before eating
- Choose pasteurized dairy products — check labels for 'pasteurized milk'
- Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water
- Keep refrigerator at 40°F or below — use a thermometer to verify
- Eat refrigerated leftovers within 3-4 days — or freeze them
- Clean hands, cutting boards, and surfaces after handling raw meat
These simple steps significantly reduce your listeria risk.
Foods That Carry Listeria Risk
- Cold deli meats and hot dogs — unless heated to steaming
- Unpasteurized soft cheeses — brie, camembert, queso fresco from raw milk
- Unpasteurized milk and juice — including fresh-squeezed from juice bars
- Raw sprouts — alfalfa, clover, mung bean, radish
- Refrigerated smoked seafood — cold-smoked salmon (lox), unless in a cooked dish
- Refrigerated pate and meat spreads — choose shelf-stable versions instead
- Pre-made deli salads — chicken salad, ham salad, seafood salad from delis
Based on CDC and FDA food safety guidelines for pregnant women.
Which Foods Are Highest Risk?
Listeria outbreaks have been traced to several food categories. The highest-risk foods during pregnancy include:
Deli meats and hot dogs: Pre-cooked but stored at refrigerator temperatures for days or weeks, giving listeria time to multiply. Heating to steaming hot (165°F) kills the bacteria. This includes turkey, ham, salami, bologna, and hot dogs.
Soft cheeses from unpasteurized milk: Soft, high-moisture cheeses like brie, camembert, queso fresco, and queso blanco made from raw milk are classic listeria vehicles. Pasteurized versions of the same cheeses are safe. Check labels for feta and other soft cheeses.
Raw sprouts: Sprouts grow in warm, moist conditions that are ideal for bacterial growth. The FDA specifically advises pregnant women to avoid raw sprouts.
Unpasteurized dairy: Raw milk and products made from it (some artisan cheeses, some yogurts) can harbor listeria. Stick to pasteurized products like cream cheese and pasteurized soft cheeses.
Refrigerated smoked seafood: Cold-smoked fish (like lox) is not fully cooked and can harbor listeria. Hot-smoked fish with a flaky, cooked texture is generally safe.
Symptoms and What to Do
Listeriosis symptoms typically appear 1-4 weeks after consuming contaminated food, though the incubation period can be as short as a few days or as long as 70 days. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea.
In pregnant women, the infection may feel like a mild flu — and that's what makes it insidious. You might not think to connect a low-grade fever and muscle aches to something you ate weeks ago. But even a mild maternal infection can have serious consequences for the baby.
If you develop fever and muscle aches during pregnancy — especially if you've recently eaten a high-risk food — contact your healthcare provider promptly. Mention what you ate. A simple blood culture can diagnose listeriosis, and early treatment with antibiotics significantly improves outcomes for both mother and baby.
For more on safe food choices during pregnancy, see our guides on mercury in fish, best pregnancy foods, and our pregnancy meal plan.
This guide is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider with any questions about your pregnancy.
