Can you eat deli meat while pregnant?

What to avoid

• Level E CDC: Unheated deli meat, cold cuts, hot dogs, and fermented or dry sausages (table «Safer Food Choices», column: Avoid) CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Sandwiches with cold deli or luncheon meat. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Higher Risk) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12

Safer choices and when it is OK

• Level E CDC: Deli meat, cold cuts, hot dogs, and fermented or dry sausages reheated to 165°F or until steaming hot (table «Safer Food Choices», column: Choose these instead) CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Grilled sandwiches in which the meat or poultry is heated until steaming. («Make Safe Menu Choices», Lower Risk) FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E CDC: Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats. CDC, Listeria and Deli Meats, accessed 2026-10-12

How to cook or handle it

• Level E FoodSafety.gov: Reheat these meats to steaming hot or 165°F (74°C) before eating, even though the label says precooked. FoodSafety.gov, People at Risk: Pregnant Women, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Reheat hot dogs, luncheon meats, bologna, and other deli meats until steaming hot or, better, to 165ºF. FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12

Why the advice exists

• Level E CDC: Deli products are kept refrigerated, but refrigeration does not kill Listeria. CDC, Listeria and Deli Meats, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a harmful germ found in many foods, including ready-to-eat refrigerated foods like deli meats, unpasteurized (raw) milk, and such foods as soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. FDA, Food Safety for Pregnant Women and Their Unborn Babies (booklet), accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E CDC: Every year in the United States, about 1 in 25,000 pregnant women are infected with Listeria. CDC, People at Risk for Listeria Infection, 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.

• Level C Pooling 100 surveys, about 2.9% of deli meat samples carry Listeria monocytogenes (95% CI 2.3 to 3.6%), with results varying widely between studies. J Food Prot, 2019
• Level C In a retail survey in Catalonia, 11.1% of pork luncheon meat samples carried Listeria monocytogenes. J Food Prot, 2008
• Level C In a US survey of 31705 ready-to-eat samples, luncheon meats packaged in the store carried Listeria significantly more often than those packaged by the manufacturer. J Food Prot, 2003
• Level E CDC advises pregnant women to eat deli meat and cold cuts only after heating them to 165 F or until steaming hot, and lists unheated deli meat as the riskier choice because of Listeria. CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women, 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.

The rule is the same for turkey, ham, roast beef, pastrami and bologna. What matters is whether the meat is steaming hot when you eat it. FDA puts grilled sandwiches with the meat heated until steaming on the lower-risk side, and sandwiches with cold deli meat on the higher-risk side.

At a sub shop, a cold sub is cold deli meat. Toasting counts only if the meat itself comes out steaming. At home, heat the slices in a pan or microwave until steaming, then build the sandwich.

Most deli meat samples test free of Listeria, but not all. Pooling 100 surveys, about 2.9% carried it, with wide differences between studies (Level C). In a US survey, meats sliced and packaged in the store carried it more often than meats packaged by the manufacturer (Level C). Heating takes care of both.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level C Pooling 100 surveys, about 2.9% of deli meat samples carry Listeria monocytogenes (95% CI 2.3 to 3.6%), with results varying widely between studies. J Food Prot, 2019
2. Level C In a US survey of 31705 ready-to-eat samples, luncheon meats packaged in the store carried Listeria significantly more often than those packaged by the manufacturer. J Food Prot, 2003
3. Level E CDC advises pregnant women to eat deli meat and cold cuts only after heating them to 165 F or until steaming hot, and lists unheated deli meat as the riskier choice because of Listeria. CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women, 2025

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