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September 2004

Revised April 2010

Safe Food Handling for a Healthy Pregnancy

Pregnant women are at high risk 

for getting sick from Listeria, harmful 

bacteria found in many foods. Listeria

can cause a disease called listeriosis. 

Listeriosis can result in miscarriage, 

premature delivery, serious sickness, 

or the death of a newborn baby. If you 

are pregnant, you need to know what 

foods are safe to eat.

U.S. Department 

of Agriculture 

Food Safety and 

Inspection Service 

www.fsis.usda.gov

USDA Meat and 

Poultry Hotline

1-888-MPHotline

(toll-free nationwide) 

or 1-888-674-6854

TTY: 1-800-256-7072

AskKaren.gov

For more information about 

food safety and recommended 

meat and poultry temperatures:

Protect Your Baby and

Yourself From Listeriosis

How do I know If I have 

listeriosis?

Because the illness could take weeks to 

show up, you may not know you have it. 

Early signs may include fever, chills, muscle 

aches, diarrhea, and upset stomach.

At first, you may feel like you have the 

flu. Later on, you could have a stiff neck, 

headache, convulsions, or lose your balance.

Every year, 2,500 Americans become sick 

from listeriosis; 1 out of 5 die from 

the illness. 

What should I do If I think I 

have listeriosis?

Call your doctor, nurse, or health clinic 

if you have any of these signs. If you have 

listeriosis, your doctor can treat you.

Fight Bacteria–Fight BAC!®

1 Clean: Wash hands often with 

soap and warm water. Use clean 

dishes, spoons, knives, and forks. Wash 

countertops with hot soapy water and 

clean up spills right away. 

2 Separate: Keep raw meat, fish, and 

poultry away from other food that will 

not be cooked.

3 Cook: Cook food to a safe minimum 

internal temperature. Check with a food 

thermometer.

4 Chill: Refrigerate or freeze within 

2 hours—refrigerate or freeze within 

1 hour in hot weather (above 90 °F). 

Don’t leave meat, fish, poultry, or cooked 

food sitting out.

What can I do to keep 

my food safe?

■	 Listeria can grow in the refrigerator. The 

refrigerator should be 40 oF or lower, 

and the freezer 0 oF or lower. Use a 

refrigerator thermometer to check your 

refrigerator's inside temperature.

■	 Clean up all spills in your refrigerator 

right away–especially juices from hot dog 

packages or raw meat or chicken/turkey. 

■	 Clean the inside walls and shelves of 

your refrigerator with hot water and 

liquid soap, then rinse.

■	 Use precooked or ready-to-eat food 

as soon as you can. Don't store it in the 

refrigerator too long.

■	 Wash your hands after you touch 

hot dogs, raw meat, chicken, turkey, or 

seafood or their juices.

What can I do to keep my 

baby and myself safe from 

listeriosis?

■	 Do not eat hot 

dogs, luncheon meats, 

bologna, or other deli 

meats unless they are 

reheated until steaming 

hot. 

■ Do not eat refrigerated pâté, 

meat spreads from a meat counter, 

or smoked seafood found in the 

refrigerated section of the store. 

Foods that don’t need refrigeration, 

like canned tuna and canned salmon, 

are okay to eat. Refrigerate after 

opening.

■	 Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) 

milk and do not eat foods that have 

unpasteurized milk in them.

■	 Do not eat salads made in the 

store such as ham salad, chicken 

salad, egg salad, tuna salad, or seafood 

salad. 

■	 Do not eat soft cheese such as 

Feta, queso blanco, queso fresco, Brie, 

Camembert cheeses, blue-veined 

cheeses, and Panela unless it is 

labeled as made with pasteurized 

milk. Make sure the label says, 

"MADE WITH PASTEURIZED MILK."

www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/

IsItDoneYet_Magnet.pdf