Can You Eat Smoked Salmon While Pregnant?
Cooked or canned salmon is fine. Chilled smoked salmon — especially cold-smoked salmon and lox — should be cooked until steaming hot or skipped.
The full answer
It depends on how the salmon was smoked. Hot-smoked salmon is cooked during smoking, so UK advice treats it like cooked fish. US advice (FDA, CDC) is stricter: skip any chilled smoked fish unless it's cooked into a hot dish or sold shelf-stable, like canned. Cold-smoked salmon and lox-style salmon are not cooked — they're cured at a low temperature — so, like other cold ready-to-eat fish, they carry a small listeria risk in pregnancy. Both the NHS (UK) and the FDA (US) say cold-smoked salmon should be cooked until steaming hot before you eat it — for example stirred into a hot pasta or baked in a quiche — or swapped for fully cooked salmon. Salmon itself is low in mercury and excellent in pregnancy when it's cooked.
How to eat smoked salmon safely
- Fully cooked or canned salmon: safe (US advice is to heat chilled hot-smoked salmon too)
- Cold-smoked salmon/lox: heat until steaming, or choose cooked instead
- Cooked salmon counts toward ~8–12 oz low-mercury seafood per week
When to avoid: Avoid cold-smoked salmon, lox, and gravlax unless they're cooked until steaming hot.
Smoked Salmon by trimester
| Stage | What changes |
|---|---|
| First trimester | Cold-smoked salmon isn't cooked, so both UK (NHS) and US (FDA) advice is to eat it only when it's cooked until steaming hot. |
| Second trimester | Unchanged. Hot-smoked salmon has been cooked, so UK advice treats it like cooked fish — but US advice is to heat any chilled smoked fish too. |
| Third trimester | Same position. Cooking cold-smoked salmon — in a pasta or a bake — resolves the question either way. |
Common questions about smoked salmon in pregnancy
Can I eat smoked salmon while pregnant?
Not cold from the pack. Cold-smoked salmon and lox aren't cooked, so both the NHS (UK) and the FDA (US) say to eat them only when cooked until steaming hot. Canned or shelf-stable smoked salmon is fine.
What's the difference between hot-smoked and cold-smoked?
Hot-smoked salmon has been cooked during smoking and flakes like cooked fish. Cold-smoked is cured and smoked at low temperature, staying silky and translucent — that's the main one the advice is about, though US advice covers chilled hot-smoked fish too.
Is cooking it an option?
Yes — cooked into a pasta, quiche or bake until steaming hot, it's generally considered fine under either version of the guidance.
The general rules on listeria, mercury, caffeine and alcohol are in our pregnancy safety guide, and you can track your pregnancy with the How Far Along Am I? calculator and the week-by-week guide.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you eat smoked salmon while pregnant?
- Cooked or canned salmon is fine. Chilled smoked salmon — especially cold-smoked salmon and lox — should be cooked until steaming hot or skipped. It depends on how the salmon was smoked. Hot-smoked salmon is cooked during smoking, so UK advice treats it like cooked fish. US advice (FDA, CDC) is stricter: skip any chilled smoked fish unless it's cooked into a hot dish or sold shelf-stable, like canned. Cold-smoked salmon and lox-style salmon are not cooked — they're cured at a low temperature — so, like other cold ready-to-eat fish, they carry a small listeria risk in pregnancy. Both the NHS (UK) and the FDA (US) say cold-smoked salmon should be cooked until steaming hot before you eat it — for example stirred into a hot pasta or baked in a quiche — or swapped for fully cooked salmon. Salmon itself is low in mercury and excellent in pregnancy when it's cooked.
- Why is smoked salmon something to be careful with in pregnancy?
- It depends on how the salmon was smoked. Hot-smoked salmon is cooked during smoking, so UK advice treats it like cooked fish. US advice (FDA, CDC) is stricter: skip any chilled smoked fish unless it's cooked into a hot dish or sold shelf-stable, like canned. Cold-smoked salmon and lox-style salmon are not cooked — they're cured at a low temperature — so, like other cold ready-to-eat fish, they carry a small listeria risk in pregnancy. Both the NHS (UK) and the FDA (US) say cold-smoked salmon should be cooked until steaming hot before you eat it — for example stirred into a hot pasta or baked in a quiche — or swapped for fully cooked salmon. Salmon itself is low in mercury and excellent in pregnancy when it's cooked.
- When should I avoid smoked salmon during pregnancy?
- Avoid cold-smoked salmon, lox, and gravlax unless they're cooked until steaming hot.
Sources
This answer was checked against the following public guidance. Advice can differ between countries; your midwife, doctor or pharmacist can apply it to you.