Is mozzarella safe to eat during pregnancy?

Yes, when it is made with pasteurized milk. CDC lists pasteurized mozzarella among the safer cheese choices for pregnant women. The only reason the question exists is Listeria, a bacterium that is rare in food and serious in pregnancy. A 2025 meta-analysis of 16 studies found it in about 1.2% of mozzarella samples at the end of production (95% CI 0.0 to 4.2). No trial or review has looked at mozzarella eaten in pregnancy itself, and none is likely to.

Established. Pasteurized mozzarella is on the CDC list of safer choices in pregnancy, together with cottage cheese, cream cheese, string cheese and feta made with pasteurized milk. CDC analysts who reviewed 17 US soft cheese outbreaks from 1998 to 2014 wrote that processed mozzarella made with pasteurized milk is generally considered safe. That is a judgement from outbreak records, not a risk measured per serving.

What the studies found

There are no trials here, because nobody can randomize pregnant women to a food that might carry Listeria. The evidence is about where the bacterium turns up and what it does when it gets through.

Contamination of mozzarella is uncommon and low. Across 16 studies, 13 published, 10 years of Italian laboratory data and 2 unpublished reports, the pooled prevalence was 1.2%. The studies disagreed with each other a lot (I2 78%), so treat the figure as a rough level. The bacterium being present in a sample is not the same as anyone falling ill. Pasteurized milk lowers the risk but does not remove it: in the CDC review of soft cheese outbreaks, Latin-style soft cheeses made with pasteurized milk still caused outbreaks through contamination after processing.

Soft cheese as a group carries a measurable signal. In a US case-control study of 165 people with listeriosis and 376 matched controls in 1988 to 1990, those who had eaten soft cheeses had 2.6 times the odds of infection (95% CI 1.4 to 4.8). Food bought at deli counters had 1.6 times the odds. The study did not name mozzarella or separate pasteurized from raw milk, and those are odds rather than risks, from before modern controls.

The size of the cheese share is small next to other foods. A US risk model attributed over 90% of estimated listeriosis cases to deli meats and 0.5 to 1.0% to soft and semi-soft cheese together with ready-to-eat seafood. It is a model built on published contamination data, and it does not single out mozzarella.

Who should be careful

Pregnancy is the reason for the care. The same 2025 meta-analysis names pregnant women among the groups for whom listeriosis poses significant health risks. A 2026 systematic review of 73 Chinese studies, covering 956 pregnant women with listeriosis, found that 58.3% of those pregnancies ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity or low birth weight, with two maternal deaths. That figure describes pregnancies where infection happened, in settings where treatment was often not optimal, and it says nothing about how often mozzarella causes infection.

What raw milk does to the picture shows in one outbreak. In North Carolina in 2000, fresh cheese of the queso fresco type made from raw milk and sold door to door infected 13 people. Eleven were pregnant, and the infections led to 5 stillbirths, 3 premature deliveries and 3 infected newborns. That cheese was not mozzarella, and it was exactly the kind CDC places among riskier choices.

Not for everyone. Check the label of fresh, artisan mozzarella, burrata and similar cheeses for the word pasteurized. CDC lists soft cheese made from raw milk, such as queso fresco, brie, camembert and blue-veined cheese, among riskier choices in pregnancy. CDC also lists pasteurized soft cheese heated to an internal 165°F or until steaming hot as a safer choice. That condition would cover mozzarella bubbling on a pizza or in a bake, though CDC does not name mozzarella in that line.

Advice does not always reach people. In an English survey of 598 recent mothers, 17% of those who ate soft cheeses before pregnancy did not completely avoid them while pregnant. The UK advice behind that question is about mold-ripened and unpasteurized cheeses, so the number does not mean 17% were eating unsafe mozzarella.

What expert bodies say

CDC is the body on our list of trusted sources that speaks to mozzarella directly. Its guidance for pregnant women puts mozzarella made with pasteurized milk among safer choices, puts soft cheese from raw milk among riskier ones, and treats heating soft cheese until steaming hot as making it safer. We found no disagreement among the bodies we checked.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A listeriosis outbreak traced to pasteurized commercial mozzarella with cases in pregnancy. We found recalls without confirmed cases and no such outbreak.
• New data showing Listeria growing to countable levels in fresh, high-moisture mozzarella within its shelf life.
• A risk estimate per serving for mozzarella in pregnancy, which nobody has published. No trial is possible or registered for a safety question like this one.

More on mozzarella itself: Mozzarella cheese.

Sources

1. ev-mozzpg-01 · Observational data · systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence studies · n = 16 studies
   In total, 16 studies were analyzed using random-effects meta-analysis, and the pooled prevalence of L. monocytogenes in mozzarella was estimated at 1.2% (95% CI: 0.0-4.2) although a high heterogeneity among studies was observed (I2 = 78%).
   
   Who: Mozzarella samples at the end of manufacture in 13 published studies, 10 years of Italian laboratory data and 2 gray-literature studies
   Effect: pooled prevalence 1.2% (95% CI 0.0 to 4.2), I2 78%; concentrations below the limit of quantification; contamination mostly after stretching
   Certainty: Presence of the bacterium in samples, not disease. Stretching in hot water kills listeria; the risk comes from contamination after it, so pasteurizing the milk does not remove it completely. For pregnant women: the main rule is pasteurized milk, refrigerator, expiration date.
   J Dairy Sci, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-mozzpg-02 · Observational data · systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence studies · n = 16 studies
   Listeria monocytogenes is a human pathogen responsible for listeriosis, a sporadic but serious disease that poses significant health risks, particularly to vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.
   
   Who: Vulnerable groups named by the authors: pregnant women, the elderly, immunocompromised people
   Effect: no pregnancy outcome data in the review; background statement of risk groups
   Certainty: Background sentence, not a result. Explains why the question about mozzarella in pregnancy is about listeria.
   J Dairy Sci, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-mozzpg-03 · Observational data · retrospective observational analysis of national outbreak surveillance data · n = 17 outbreaks
   Soft cheeses made with pasteurized milk, including commercial cottage cheese, cream cheese, and processed mozzarella, are generally considered safe.
   
   Who: Soft-cheese listeriosis outbreaks, United States, 1998-2014
   Effect: pasteurized processed mozzarella named among soft cheeses generally considered safe; Latin-style pasteurized soft cheeses still caused outbreaks through post-processing contamination
   Certainty: The authors' conclusion from outbreaks, not a measurement of risk per serving. "Processed mozzarella" = industrial, not fresh artisanal. The outbreak line is already in ev-fetapg-01.
   Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2018 (Jackson et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
4. ev-mozzpg-04 · Observational data · case-control study · n = 541
   Cases were more likely than matched controls to have eaten soft cheeses (odds ratio [OR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4 to 4.8; P = .002) or food purchased from store delicatessen counters (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.5; P = .04); 32% of sporadic disease could be attributed to eating these foods.
   
   Who: 165 culture-confirmed listeriosis patients and 376 matched controls, multistate US population of 18 million, 1988-1990
   Effect: soft cheeses OR 2.6 (95% CI 1.4 to 4.8); deli-counter food OR 1.6 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.5); 32% of sporadic disease attributable to these foods
   Certainty: OR is odds, not risk; data from 1988-1990, before modern measures. "Soft cheeses" in general, mozzarella is not named separately, pasteurization not distinguished.
   JAMA, 1992 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-mozzpg-05 · Observational data · outbreak investigation with matched case-control study · n = 13 cases
   Eleven case patients were pregnant; infection with L. monocytogenes resulted in 5 stillbirths, 3 premature deliveries, and 3 infected newborns.
   
   Who: 13 Hispanic patients, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 2000-2001, and matched controls
   Effect: 5 stillbirths, 3 premature deliveries, 3 infected newborns; unlabeled door-to-door fresh cheese MOR 17.5 (95% CI 2.0 to 152.5); queso fresco MOR 7.3 (95% CI 1.4 to 37.5)
   Certainty: Not mozzarella: a fresh Mexican-style cheese from raw milk from an illegal producer. Shows what listeria does in pregnant women and why the criterion is pasteurized milk and labeling.
   Clin Infect Dis, 2005 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-mozzpg-06 · Observational data · modeling study based on published prevalence data and dose-response models · n = 1044 to 2089 estimated cases
   Most cases were attributed to deli meats (>90 % of cases) followed by RTE salads (3.9-4.5 %), soft and semi-soft cheese and RTE seafood (0.5-1.0 %) and frozen vegetables (0.2-0.3 %).
   
   Who: US population, quantitative risk assessment using FAO/WHO and Pouillot dose-response models
   Effect: deli meats >90% of cases; RTE salads 3.9-4.5%; soft and semi-soft cheese and RTE seafood 0.5-1.0%; frozen vegetables 0.2-0.3%
   Certainty: A model, not observation; the share depends on consumption volume and baseline data. Cheese is pooled with seafood, mozzarella not singled out.
   Int J Food Microbiol, 2022 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-mozzpg-07 · Observational data · systematic review with pooled estimates of observational studies · n = 73 studies
   Two maternal deaths were recorded, whereas major adverse outcomes (miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity, or low birth weight) occurred in 58.3% of pregnancies.
   
   Who: 956 pregnant women and 749 neonates with listeriosis in 73 studies from 19 Chinese provinces
   Effect: major adverse pregnancy outcome in 58.3% of pregnancies; two maternal deaths
   Certainty: About consequences of infection, not cheese. Chinese data, treatment often suboptimal, so the share may be higher than where practice is better.
   Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2026 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-mozzpg-08 · Observational data · cross-sectional survey · n = 598
   However, among pre-pregnancy consumers, several items were not completely avoided, for example, 81 % (128/158) for game meat/gamebirds, 37 % (176/478) for cured meats and 17 % (81/467) for soft cheeses.
   
   Who: Postpartum women resident in England during pregnancy, online survey April-November 2022, median age 33
   Effect: among pre-pregnancy consumers, non-avoidance 17% (81/467) for soft cheeses, 37% for cured meats, 81% for game meat
   Certainty: The percentage means "did not fully avoid" among those who ate it before pregnancy. The NHS advice on soft cheeses applies to mold-ripened and unpasteurized ones; pasteurized mozzarella does not fall under it, so "17%" does not mean 17% violations for mozzarella.
   Public Health Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-mozzpg-09 · Position of an expert body · agency guidance
   Cottage cheese, cream cheese, string cheese, feta and mozzarella, when made with pasteurized milk
   
   Who: Pregnant women, CDC food safety guidance
   Effect: pasteurized mozzarella listed as a safer choice
   Certainty: Authority position without a number. NHS and FSA (outside trust.json) say the same. No disagreements found among the authorities in trust.json. The same quote is in ev-fetapg-08.
   CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
10. ev-mozzpg-10 · Position of an expert body · agency guidance
    Pasteurized soft cheeses heated to an internal temperature of 165°F or until steaming hot
    
    Who: Pregnant women, CDC food safety guidance
    Effect: heating to an internal 165°F (74°C) listed as making soft cheese a safer choice
    Certainty: Application to pizza is ours; CDC does not name mozzarella in this row. Mozzarella melted to boiling meets the condition.
    CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
11. ev-mozzpg-11 · Position of an expert body · agency guidance
    Soft cheese made from unpasteurized (raw) milk—for example, queso fresco, brie, camembert, and blue-veined cheese
    
    Who: Pregnant women, CDC food safety guidance
    Effect: raw-milk soft cheese listed as a riskier choice
    Certainty: Artisanal fresh mozzarella or burrata from raw milk falls under this category; look for "pasteurized" on the label.
    CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section