No raw fish is considered safe during pregnancy

No raw fish is considered safe during pregnancy

(Reuters) - Pregnant people can eat certain types of cooked fish safely, but there is no raw fish considered safe to eat while pregnant because the risk to both mother and fetus from bacterial and parasitic infections is too great, according to guidelines.

A Facebook reel of a woman eating sushi contains the caption, “Even raw salmon is okay in moderation. It’s actually very good for the baby” (here).

The post has been liked and shared thousands of times.

However, guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises against eating raw seafood while pregnant because it could put both mother and baby at risk (here).

“They’re unsafe because raw seafoods are more likely to contain parasites or bacteria than foods made from cooked seafood,” Courtney Rhodes, a spokesperson for the FDA, told Reuters via email.

A spokesperson for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists pointed to the organization’s guide to pregnancy and childbirth, which also advises avoiding all raw fish, including sushi and sashimi (here) (here).

Most obstetrician-gynecologists believe that eating raw fish during pregnancy is unsafe and that parasitic infections caused by eating raw fish are harder to treat in pregnant women because of the danger of fetal exposure to anti-parasitic medications, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (here).

An article from theBUMP.com, updated in 2020, summarizes FDA guidelines in a chart listing the cooked fish and shellfish that are considered safe to eat during pregnancy (here).

VERDICT

Misleading. Eating raw fish is not considered safe for pregnant people or their fetuses because of the increased risk of parasitic and bacterial infections.