Can you eat mushrooms when pregnant?

Find out if it's safe to eat mushrooms during pregnancy, including raw mushroom, shiitake mushrooms and morel mushrooms. Plus precautions to take to keep you and your baby healthy.

The official advice on eating mushrooms in pregnancy

Good news! Mushrooms are generally safe to eat in pregnancy.

Unless the packaging states they need to be cooked, mushrooms you buy from the supermarket can be eaten raw or cooked (some mushrooms like morels are always eaten cooked).

Always wash them well before eating, though. The NHS says you should wash all vegetables to remove any traces of soil. This is because soil can contain a parasite that may cause toxoplasmosis. Although rare, toxoplasmosis can cause miscarriage and complications in pregnancy.

Cooking helps kill off bacteria so, if you're worried, cook mushrooms before eating.

Foraged mushrooms

If you're picking your own mushrooms, make sure you know which species are safe to eat during pregnancy and ensure you remove all soil and debris before eating.

Delicious mushroom recipes

Love mushrooms? Why not try one of these great pregnancy-safe recipes?

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• Garlic mushrooms
• Slow braised beef and mushroom stroganoff
• Spinach stuffed mushrooms
• Chicken, mushroom and broccoli pasta
• Spinach and mushroom lasagne

We like The Whole 9 Months, a week-by-week pregnancy nutrition guide, packed full of recipes and medical advice. See more details here at Amazon.

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Looking for more pregnancy diet info? Check out our articles below, or swap tips with other mums-to-be in our forum.

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