Pregnancy Food Guide

Fridge Checklist – Green / Amber / Red

G = Green (safe) A = Amber (limit) R = Red (avoid)

🟢 GREEN – Safe / Everyday Foods & Habits

🥦🍎 Fruit, veg & salad (always washed well)

🥝 Fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced fruit
🥦 Cooked vegetables
🥗 Washed salads
🍄 Cooked enoki mushrooms (stored in fridge before use)

🍞🍚 Carbs & wholegrains

🍞 Bread, rice, pasta, noodles
🥔 Potatoes (especially with skin)
🥣 Oats, cereals, maize, millet, yams, cornmeal
🌾 Wholegrain / high-fibre options where possible

🍗🥚🌰 Protein – meat, eggs, beans, nuts

🍗 Chicken, beef, pork, lamb – well cooked (no pink, juices clear)
🥪 Cold pre-packed meats (ham, corned beef)
🥚 British Lion / “Laid in Britain” hen eggs – any style (runny or raw OK)
🦆 Duck / goose / quail eggs – only when fully cooked (white + yolk firm)
🐟 Cooked fish (baked, grilled, tinned)
🍤 Cooked shellfish – prawns, crab, lobster, mussels, scallops, clams
🍣 Sushi made with cooked fish or veg
🥫 Beans, lentils, chickpeas and other pulses
🌰 Nuts & peanuts (if no allergy and not told to avoid)

🧀🥛 Dairy & alternatives

🥛 Pasteurised milk, yoghurt, cream and ice cream
🧀 Hard cheeses (cheddar, gruyere, parmesan, etc.)
🧈 Pasteurised semi-hard cheeses (edam, etc.)
🧀 Pasteurised soft cheeses – cottage cheese, mozzarella, feta, cream cheese, paneer, ricotta, halloumi, goats’ cheese without white rind, processed spreads
🔥 Any soft or blue cheese if cooked until steaming hot
🌱 Fortified plant milks / yoghurts (unsweetened, calcium-fortified)

🥪🍎 Healthier snacks

🥪 Small sandwich or pitta with cheese, lean ham, tuna, salmon or sardines + salad
🥕 Veg sticks – carrot, cucumber, celery
🥣 Plain / low-fat yoghurt or fromage frais with fruit
🍑 Dried fruit – apricots, figs, prunes
🥣 Vegetable and bean soups
🥄 Small bowl of unsweetened cereal or porridge with milk
🥛 Milky drinks
🫘 Baked beans on toast or a small baked potato
🍞 Small slice of malt loaf, fruited tea cake, or toasted fruit bread

☕💊 Drinks & supplements

☕ Total caffeine up to 200 mg per day
🍵 Herbal tea – up to 1–2 cups per day (check ingredients)
💊 Folic acid supplement
💊 Pregnancy multivitamin without vitamin A

🧼🔪 Food safety habits

🚿 Wash fruit, veg and salad well
🧼 Wash hands, knives, boards and surfaces after raw meat/eggs/fish/veg
📦 Keep raw foods separate from ready-to-eat foods
🔥 Cook meat, eggs and ready meals until steaming hot all the way through
🗓️ Check and follow use-by dates

🟠 AMBER – Limit / Special Rules

🐟 Fish limits

🐠 Oily fish (salmon, trout, mackerel, herring): MAX 2 portions per week
🐟 Tuna: MAX 2 tuna steaks OR 4 medium cans per week (tuna does not count as one of the oily fish portions)

☕ Caffeine

☕ Add up coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks, chocolate – stay at 200 mg caffeine per day or less

🍵 Herbal teas

🍵 Check ingredients – stick to 1–2 cups per day

🥓 Cured meats

🥓 Salami, pepperoni, chorizo, prosciutto – only if cooked thoroughly

🍰🍫 High fat / high sugar foods

🧈 Butter, oils, salad dressings, cream
🍫 Chocolate, crisps, biscuits, pastries, ice cream, cake, puddings
🥤 Sugary and fizzy drinks – enjoy less often and in small amounts

🧀 Soft / blue cheeses (rule)

🧀 Brie, camembert, chèvre, soft blue cheeses – only if cooked until steaming hot

🍄 Enoki mushrooms (storage)

🍄 Store in the fridge and cook thoroughly

🔴 RED – Avoid

🥂☕ Alcohol & high caffeine

🥂 Alcohol – safest choice in pregnancy is not to drink at all
☕ Regularly going over 200 mg caffeine per day

💊🧬 Supplements & liver

💊 High-dose multivitamins
💊 Any supplements containing vitamin A
🥩 Liver and liver products (too much vitamin A)

🥛🧀 Dairy & cheese to avoid

🥛 Unpasteurised cows’, goats’ or sheep’s milk or cream
🧀 Soft cheeses made from unpasteurised milk (for example some soft goats’ cheeses)
🧀 Mould-ripened soft cheeses with a white rind – brie, camembert, chèvre – unless cooked until steaming hot
🧀 Soft blue cheeses – danish blue, gorgonzola, roquefort – unless cooked until steaming hot

🥩🥚 Meat & eggs to avoid

🥩 Raw or undercooked meat of any kind
🍔 Pink or bloody meat, burgers or sausages
🥧 All pâté, including vegetarian pâté
🐦 Game meats such as goose, partridge or pheasant (may contain lead shot)
🥚 Raw or partially cooked non-Lion hen eggs
🥚 Raw or partially cooked duck, goose or quail eggs

🐟🦐 Fish & seafood to avoid

🦈 Swordfish
🦈 Marlin
🦈 Shark
🦪 Raw shellfish
🍣 Ready-to-eat cold smoked or cured fish (for example smoked salmon, gravlax, or in sushi) unless cooked until steaming hot

⚠️ Other to avoid

🌿 Liquorice root (the herbal product)
🥜 Peanuts if you have a nut allergy or have been told to avoid them
🥬 Unwashed fruit, veg or salad with soil on them
🗓️ Any food eaten after its use-by date, even if it looks or smells OK

Based on NHS guidance for healthy eating and foods to avoid in pregnancy.