Can you eat crab while pregnant?

What to avoid

• Level E FDA: Partially cooked seafood, such as shrimp and crab (chart «Do not eat», Seafood row) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Raw or undercooked fish or shellfish, or food containing raw or undercooked seafood (for example, sashimi) found in some sushi or ceviche. (FDA list of foods for at-risk groups to avoid: pregnant women, children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems) FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FoodSafety.gov: Raw seafood may contain parasites or germs, including Listeria, that can make pregnant women sick and could potentially harm their babies. FoodSafety.gov, People at Risk: Pregnant Women, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E ACOG: You should also avoid raw fish and shellfish, including sushi. Raw fish has a higher risk of making you sick. ACOG, Nutrition During Pregnancy (FAQ), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Refrigerated smoked seafood and raw or undercooked seafood. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Higher Risk) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12

Amounts and limits

• Level E FDA: Those who are pregnant or breastfeeding consume between 8 and 12 ounces per week of a variety of seafood from choices that are lower in mercury. FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Goal: Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should eat 2 to 3 servings and children should eat 2 servings of a variety of fish each week from the “Best Choices” list. FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E ACOG: You should eat two or three servings of fish or shellfish per week before getting pregnant, while pregnant, and while breastfeeding. ACOG, Nutrition During Pregnancy (FAQ), accessed 2026-10-12

Safer choices and when it is OK

• Level E FDA: Fully cooked fish that is firm and flaky. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Lower Risk) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: They spoil rapidly after death, so only live crabs and lobsters should be selected and prepared. FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, accessed 2026-10-12

How to cook or handle it

• Level E FoodSafety.gov: All seafood dishes should be cooked to 145°F (63°C). FoodSafety.gov, People at Risk: Pregnant Women, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Most seafood should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F. FDA, Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FoodSafety.gov: Shrimp, lobster, crab, and scallops Cook until flesh is pearly or white, and opaque (Safe Minimum Internal Temperature chart row (cells joined by a space)) FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Cook shrimp, lobster, and crab until they turn red and the flesh is the color of pearls. FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12

Word-for-word quotes from official US sources. Level E means the position of an expert body. How we grade evidence.

Mercury: FDA testing 1990 to 2012. Groups and servings: FDA and EPA advice for people who are or may become pregnant and those who are breastfeeding. A serving is 4 oz (113 g) before cooking.

USDA FoodData Central, Crustaceans, crab, alaska king, cooked, moist heat. It has 110 calories. Daily Values are the standard adult label values, not pregnancy targets.

• Level B Adding 400 g a week of a low-mercury seafood species for 16 weeks of pregnancy left median hair mercury at 554 mcg/kg against 485 mcg/kg in controls (p = 0.186), under the US EPA reference dose of 1,000 mcg/kg. Environ Int, 2020
• Level C In US retail samples, Listeria-like organisms were found in 4.76% of fresh crab meat or sushi samples, the highest of 16 ready-to-eat categories. J Food Prot, 2017
• Level C Survey data from Greenland found high contaminant levels in snow crab liver, which mattered little because it was eaten in small amounts. Sci Total Environ, 2004
• Level C A scoping review of 46 studies links shellfish eating in pregnancy and early childhood with higher contaminant biomarkers, mostly mercury, and better iodine status. Nutr Res Rev, 2025

Levels: A is a meta-analysis of trials, B a randomized trial, C an observational study, D lab or animal work, E an expert position. How we grade evidence.

Crab is low in mercury, a mean of 0.065 ppm in FDA testing, and sits in the Best Choices group. A 4 oz serving of cooked king crab has 21.9 g of protein and 13 mcg of vitamin B12.

The care point is cold, ready-to-eat crab. In US retail samples, Listeria-like organisms were found in 4.76% of samples in the fresh crab meat or sushi category, the highest share among the ready-to-eat foods tested (Level C). FDA also lists partially cooked seafood such as shrimp and crab among foods not to eat, and FoodSafety.gov says all seafood dishes should be cooked to 145°F.

In a pregnancy trial, adding 14 oz (400 g) of cod a week for 16 weeks left hair mercury under the EPA reference dose (Level B). That is one cod trial, and the FDA advice for pregnancy stays at 8 to 12 oz of seafood a week.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level C In US retail samples, Listeria-like organisms were found in 4.76% of fresh crab meat or sushi samples, the highest of 16 ready-to-eat categories. J Food Prot, 2017
2. Level B Adding 400 g a week of a low-mercury seafood species for 16 weeks of pregnancy left median hair mercury at 554 mcg/kg against 485 mcg/kg in controls (p = 0.186), under the US EPA reference dose of 1,000 mcg/kg. Environ Int, 2020

Written from the agency positions and data on this page, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

• Crab: what the research says
• Can you eat crab raw?