Is cantaloupe safe during pregnancy?

For most pregnant women, eating cantaloupe carries a small risk with a serious downside, and that risk is Listeria. We found no trial and no systematic review of cantaloupe in pregnancy. The best measure of risk comes from the 2011 US Listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupe. An estimated 6,500 to 12,000 pregnant women in Colorado may have eaten the contaminated melons, an attack rate of about 1 per 10,000 exposed pregnant women.

Not for everyone. The rate was low, but the outcome was severe when it happened. Across that outbreak, 7 infections among pregnant women and newborns and one related miscarriage were reported, and 33 of the 147 patients died, most of them older adults. ACOG puts listeriosis at about 13 times more common in pregnancy than in the general population.

Odds ratios from two observational studies

Observational data

Odds ratios, not risks. The first row is a case-control study of listeriosis outside any outbreak, including 28 cases linked to pregnancy. The second asked pregnant women in the 2011 outbreak about fever, and its interval crosses 1, so no link was shown. Sources: cards ev-cantpg-05 and ev-cantpg-04 below.

What the trials found

There are no trials. Nobody has randomized pregnant women to eat cantaloupe or avoid it, and the trial registry we searched held nothing on cantaloupe or melon in pregnancy. Everything below is outbreak investigation, case-control work, surveys and laboratory studies.

The 2011 outbreak is the one with pregnancy numbers. In a survey of 1,060 pregnant women in Colorado, 37 percent said they ate or likely ate cantaloupe. Fever was reported by 22 of the 883 who answered the symptom question and was not significantly linked to eating cantaloupe, an odds ratio of 1.3 with an interval from 0.6 to 3.2. That is a self-reported survey in one state, during one outbreak.

Outside outbreaks, a US case-control study of 169 people with listeriosis, 28 of them linked to pregnancy, and 376 matched controls found that eating melon at a commercial establishment carried 2.6 times the odds of infection (95% CI 1.4 to 5.0). The finding concerns melon cut and served by a restaurant or shop, and odds ratios from this design are not the same as risk.

Cantaloupe has also carried Salmonella. In a 2023 outbreak in the UK and Portugal with 98 cases, people who fell ill had 14.22 times the odds of having eaten cantaloupe, with a very wide interval of 2.83 to 71.43. An Australian outbreak in 2006 showed the same pattern, with an adjusted odds ratio of 23.9 (95% CI 5.1 to 112.4). Neither study looked at pregnant women separately.

A systematic review of laboratory studies of Listeria on intact fruit and vegetables found that melons were among the most studied foods. That is laboratory work and gives no human risk figure.

Unsettled. One Chinese cohort of 2,987 pregnant women found that the amount of melon eaten in mid pregnancy was positively associated with gestational diabetes, while apple and orange intake went the other way. The abstract does not say which melon, gives no size for the effect, and we could not get the full text. It is one observational study and shows no cause.

Who should be careful

Pregnant women are the group this page is about, because listeriosis is about 13 times more common in pregnancy than in the general population, according to ACOG. An umbrella review of nine systematic reviews found that 66 percent of listeriosis infections in pregnancy happened in the third trimester and 3 percent in the first. That review pooled case series and gives no trial evidence.

The evidence points to two situations. Melon cut and served by a restaurant or shop carried higher odds of listeriosis in the case-control study above. Melon from a recalled batch is the other.

Not for everyone. If you are pregnant and have eaten cantaloupe from a recall but feel well, ACOG says no testing, including blood and stool cultures, and no treatment is needed. If you develop a fever or feel unwell after eating it, that advice no longer applies, so tell your doctor or midwife.

What expert bodies say

ACOG Committee Opinion 614 covers Listeria in pregnancy. It gives the figure of about 13 times higher incidence in pregnancy, and it advises no testing or treatment for a pregnant woman without symptoms who ate a product recalled or implicated in an outbreak. We found CDC pages with advice on cut melon, but could not confirm their wording a second time from an agency source, so we did not use them.

How we searched

Searched: a local copy of PubMed for cantaloupe, muskmelon or melon with pregnancy, Listeria, listeriosis or Salmonella, which returned 14 records. Further searches returned 6 for listeriosis with cantaloupe or the 2011 outbreak, 17 for listeriosis in pregnancy with reviews or fetal outcomes, and 22 for melon with allergy or glycemic terms, none of them in pregnancy. We also searched ClinicalTrials.gov, a drug interaction database, the retraction database, Europe PMC and the open web. Search run on 7 October 2026.

Included: the 2011 outbreak investigation, a pregnancy attack rate study and survey from the same outbreak, a case-control study of sporadic listeriosis, the ACOG committee opinion, an umbrella review of listeriosis in pregnancy, a 2023 Salmonella outbreak study, a 2006 Australian Salmonella outbreak study taken from our cantaloupe page, one Chinese cohort on gestational diabetes and one systematic review of laboratory studies. None of the papers is retracted.

Excluded: surveys of pathogens on produce with no human outcome, other older Salmonella melon outbreaks already represented by the 2023 and 2006 studies, a pesticide poisoning from watermelon, and melon allergy case reports that were not about pregnancy.

What we read: abstracts from PubMed and Europe PMC, and the full text of the Colorado pregnancy study.

What we could not get: the full text of the 2011 outbreak paper, which is paywalled, the full text of the Chinese cohort with its effect size, and CDC pages, which blocked automated access. No trial of cantaloupe in pregnancy exists.

What would change this answer

A new Listeria or Salmonella outbreak linked to cantaloupe with cases in pregnant women.
A cohort that names cantaloupe rather than melon in general and reports how much it shifts the risk of gestational diabetes.
Agency guidance from CDC, FDA or the NHS that adds whole or pre-cut melon to the foods to avoid in pregnancy.

More on cantaloupe itself, including nutrients and the outbreak record: Cantaloupe.

The food behind this question

Cantaloupe: most of the evidence is about safety — numbers, evidence and safety

The same question for other foods (pregnancy)

Sources

ev-cantpg-01 · Observational data · multistate outbreak investigation with case comparison · n = 147
Seven infections among pregnant women and newborns and one related miscarriage were reported.
Who: laboratory-confirmed outbreak-related listeriosis cases, United States, August to October 2011
Effect: 7 infections among pregnant women and newborns; 1 related miscarriage
Certainty: Outbreak, not a cohort; most patients 60+; pregnant women were a minority of cases, but the outcome (miscarriage) is documented.
New England Journal of Medicine, 2013 (McCollum et al., Multistate outbreak of listeriosis associated with cantaloupe) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-02 · Observational data · multistate outbreak investigation · n = 147
Thirty-three of the 147 patients (22%) died.
Who: laboratory-confirmed outbreak-related listeriosis cases, United States, 2011
Effect: case fatality 22% (33 of 147); 86% of patients aged 60 or older
Certainty: Mortality mostly among the elderly; for pregnant women the main risk is the fetus and newborn.
New England Journal of Medicine, 2013 (McCollum et al., Multistate outbreak of listeriosis associated with cantaloupe) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-03 · Observational data · outbreak surveillance with survey-based exposure estimates · n = 1060
Approximately 6,500-12,000 pregnant women in Colorado might have eaten the contaminated cantaloupes, an attack rate of ~1 per 10,000 exposed pregnant women.
Who: pregnant women in Colorado during the 2011 cantaloupe listeriosis outbreak; 1,060 surveyed
Effect: attack rate about 1 per 10,000 exposed pregnant women
Certainty: Exposure estimate is modeled (three methods); one state, one outbreak; low risk per person, but a severe outcome.
Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-04 · Observational data · cross-sectional survey within outbreak surveillance · n = 1060
Although 22 (2%) of 883 pregnant women who responded to the question on symptoms reported fever, fever was not significantly associated with eating cantaloupe (OR = 1.3, 95% CI: 0.6–3.2).
Who: pregnant women in Colorado surveyed during the 2011 outbreak
Effect: 37% reported eating or likely eating cantaloupe; fever in 22 of 883, not associated with cantaloupe (OR 1.3, 95% CI 0.6 to 3.2)
Certainty: Self-report; most did not remember the brand; OR is odds, not risk.
Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
ev-cantpg-05 · Observational data · case-control study · n = 545
In multivariable analysis, L. monocytogenes infection was associated with eating melons at a commercial establishment (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-5.0) and eating hummus prepared in a commercial establishment (odds ratio, 5.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-19.1).
Who: FoodNet listeriosis case patients (169 enrolled, 28 pregnancy-associated) and 376 matched controls, 2000 to 2003
Effect: melons eaten at a commercial establishment OR 2.6 (95% CI 1.4 to 5.0); hummus OR 5.7
Certainty: Not an outbreak, sporadic cases; OR is odds; the risk concerns melon cut in an establishment.
Clin Infect Dis, 2007 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-06 · Position of an expert body · professional society committee opinion · n = —
The incidence of listeriosis associated with pregnancy is approximately 13 times higher than in the general population.
Who: pregnant women
Effect: pregnancy-associated listeriosis incidence about 13 times that of the general population
Certainty: ACOG position (2014); the number is from surveillance, the document itself has no analysis of its own.
Obstet Gynecol, 2014 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-07 · Position of an expert body · professional society committee opinion · n = —
No testing, including blood and stool cultures, or treatment is indicated for an asymptomatic pregnant woman who reports consumption of a product that was recalled or implicated during an outbreak of listeria contamination.
Who: asymptomatic pregnant women with possible Listeria exposure
Effect: no testing (including blood and stool cultures) and no treatment for an asymptomatic pregnant woman after a recalled or outbreak-linked product
Certainty: Practical advice in case of a cantaloupe recall; does not assess the risk of the cantaloupe itself.
Obstet Gynecol, 2014 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-08 · Observational data · umbrella review of systematic reviews · n = 9 systematic reviews
Listeriosis infections were likely to occur in the third trimester (66%) rather than in the first trimester (3%) of pregnancy.
Who: pregnant women and newborns with listeriosis in 9 systematic reviews (330 studies)
Effect: third trimester 66% vs first trimester 3% of infections; fever and flu-like symptoms most common
Certainty: Synthesis of descriptive reviews (cases), not an RCT; level C by the design of the primary data.
BJOG, 2022 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-09 · Observational data · outbreak case-control study · n = 125
Multivariable logistic regression analysis of food exposures in cases and controls identified a strong association with cantaloupe consumption (adjusted odds ratio: 14.22; 95% confidence interval: 2.83-71.43; p-value: 0.001).
Who: 25 UK outbreak cases and 100 age-matched controls; 98 cases overall
Effect: cantaloupe consumption aOR 14.22 (95% CI 2.83 to 71.43); 5 of 25 hospitalized
Certainty: Not about pregnant women separately; OR is odds; wide CI.
Epidemiol Infect, 2024 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-10 · Observational data · prospective observational study · n = 2987
Quantity of grape, melon, potatoes and fruit juice consumption were positively associated with the incidence of GDM.
Who: pregnant women in China, diet assessed at weeks 13 to 28
Effect: 405 (13.6%) developed gestational diabetes; grape, melon, potato and fruit juice quantity positively associated; size of melon effect not given in abstract
Certainty: Observational; 'melon' not specified (watermelon or cantaloupe); effect size not given in the abstract; full text not obtained.
Clin Nutr ESPEN, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cantpg-11 · Laboratory or animal data · systematic review of laboratory studies · n = 29 studies
Included studies represented 21 commodities, with the majority of studies focusing on melons, leafy greens, berries, or sprouts.
Who: laboratory studies of L. monocytogenes on intact fruit and vegetable surfaces
Effect: 21 commodities studied; most studies on melons, leafy greens, berries or sprouts
Certainty: Laboratory data; explains why the cantaloupe (netted) rind is a risk when cutting.
J Food Prot, 2020 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
cant-r1-02 · Observational data · case-control study nested in an outbreak investigation · n = 36 cases, 106 controls
Consumption of cantaloupe (rockmelon) was strongly associated with illness (adjusted OR 23.9 95%, 95% CI 5.1-112.4).
Who: 36 confirmed cases and 106 controls across New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory
Effect: adjusted odds ratio 23.9 (95% CI 5.1 to 112.4)
Certainty: two independent outbreaks on different continents give the same direction, and that matters more than each one separately.
Epidemiol Infect, 2009 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the abstract

How this page was made. Evidence was extracted from primary sources into cards, every number was re-checked against the source, and the text was written from those cards. Bioma Learn has no human medical reviewer at this time, and we say so rather than invent one. Methodology. This is information, not medical advice.