Can I eat bacon while pregnant?

The verdict

Yes, as long as it is properly cooked. Bacon is one of the easier answers in this whole category, and the reason is simple: it is a cured meat that you cook, and cooking is exactly what every authority asks you to do with cured meat.

The NHS lists thoroughly cooked chicken, pork, lamb, turkey and duck among the meats that are safe in pregnancy, with the test that there should be no trace of pink or blood after cooking. Its restriction on cured meat is aimed at the ones eaten cold: cold cured meats such as salami, pepperoni, chorizo and prosciutto should be cooked until steaming hot before eating.

Nobody eats bacon cold and raw. Cook it until it is crisp or at least firm and fully coloured, and it is not in the restricted group at all.

Why bacon is different from prosciutto

Both are cured pork, so it is fair to ask why one comes with a warning and the other does not.

The concern with cold cured meat is twofold. The NHS explains it plainly: there is a small risk of getting toxoplasmosis if you eat raw, undercooked or cured meat, which can cause miscarriage; and cold cured, ready-to-eat meats may contain listeria bacteria, which can cause listeriosis.

Curing alone does not reliably destroy either organism. Salt, nitrite and drying reduce the risk but do not eliminate it, which is why prosciutto and salami are treated as raw ready-to-eat foods rather than as cooked ones.

Heat does destroy both. The FSA's cooking guidance states that pork can have bacteria all the way through the meat, so it needs to be cooked all the way through, and that the middle of the food should reach 70C for two minutes, or an equivalent combination such as 75C for 30 seconds. A rasher of bacon in a hot pan passes that comfortably within a minute or two.

Streaky, back, pancetta and lardons

Streaky and back bacon, smoked or unsmoked, are all the same answer: cook them through.

Pancetta is worth flagging because it comes in two forms. Cubed or sliced pancetta that you fry into a carbonara or a ragu is cooked and is fine. Thinly sliced pancetta served cold on a charcuterie board is a cold cured meat and belongs with prosciutto: the NHS instruction is to cook it until steaming hot first.

Lardons, bacon bits used as a salad topping, and bacon crumb on a burger all come down to whether they were cooked and whether they are hot. Real bacon pieces that were fried and then chilled for a salad bar are a cold ready-to-eat meat product. Shelf-stable imitation bacon bits made from soya are not meat at all.

The bacon sandwich problem

The genuine weak point is not the bacon; it is the way a bacon sandwich is often served.

In a busy cafe, bacon is frequently cooked in batches and held warm until an order comes in. Held warm means held somewhere in the temperature range where bacteria multiply, and FSANZ describes the danger zone as 5C to 60C, advising vulnerable people to limit time spent in it. The FSA's advice for ready-to-eat food is to eat it within four hours of leaving the fridge, or two hours on a very warm day.

Bacon that arrives lukewarm and floppy has probably been sitting. Bacon that arrives hot and sizzling has just been cooked. If you can, ask for it well done or freshly cooked, which is a normal request and gets you a hotter sandwich anyway.

The same applies to a hotel breakfast buffet, where bacon sits under a heat lamp for an hour or more. If it is genuinely steaming hot it is fine; if it is warm and greasy, choose something cooked to order.

Bacon in a fry-up, a burger and a carbonara

Carbonara deserves a specific mention because the classic recipe uses raw egg, tempered by the heat of the pasta. The bacon or pancetta in it is fried and is not the issue. The egg is. UK advice is that hen eggs with the British Lion stamp or produced under the Laid in Britain scheme can be eaten raw or partially cooked; eggs without that assurance should be well cooked. In the US the FDA advises avoiding foods that may contain raw or lightly cooked eggs, and FSANZ lists raw and lightly cooked eggs among higher-risk foods with pasteurised eggs and cooked alternatives as the safer choice.

A bacon cheeseburger raises the burger question rather than the bacon question. The FSA is explicit that burgers should not be served rare or pink at home, because mincing moves bacteria from the outside of the meat all the way through. The NHS says thoroughly cooked minced meat, burgers and sausages are safe, with no trace of pink or blood. The FDA's number for ground beef is 160F, which is 71C.

Bacon in a full cooked breakfast, on a pizza, in a quiche or in a pasta sauce is cooked and unproblematic.

Salt, fat and how often

The safety answer is yes; the dietary answer is not every day. Bacon is high in salt, and UK healthy eating advice sets the adult limit at 6g of salt a day. It is also high in saturated fat.

NHS pregnancy diet advice is to eat a healthy balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, starchy foods, protein and dairy, and to limit foods high in fat, salt and sugar. Bacon fits into that as an occasional item rather than a staple.

If you are eating bacon because it is one of the few things you can face during nausea, that is a reasonable trade and worth mentioning at an appointment rather than worrying about privately. Getting calories in matters.

If you have eaten undercooked bacon

Undercooked pork is the scenario worth taking seriously, though it is uncommon with bacon because thin rashers cook fast. The concern is toxoplasmosis and ordinary food poisoning.

The NHS advice is that if you have had a small amount of food that should have been avoided and did not become ill, it is unlikely to affect your baby, and to talk to your midwife or GP if you are worried or have symptoms. Get help from 111 if you feel unwell after having food that should be avoided in pregnancy, if vomiting and diarrhoea last more than 48 hours, or if you have symptoms of listeriosis or toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasmosis often causes no symptoms at all, and where it does they are flu-like: mild fever, aching, swollen glands and tiredness. If you are concerned about a specific exposure, say so; testing exists and is arranged through your maternity team.

Where guidance differs

Barely at all. No authority covered here names bacon as a food to avoid in pregnancy.

The UK restricts cold cured meats, and names salami, pepperoni, chorizo and prosciutto rather than bacon. Ireland's HSE restricts cold cured meats such as salami, parma ham, chorizo and pepperoni, and separately names ready-to-eat sliced meat such as sliced ham, advising avoidance of deli counters. The FDA and ACOG restrict hot dogs, deli meats and luncheon meats unless reheated until steaming hot, which is a cold ready-to-eat category rather than a bacon one. FSANZ restricts cold ready-to-eat meats and raw or semi-cooked meat, with thoroughly cooked meat as the safer alternative.

Every one of those restrictions is lifted by cooking, and bacon is defined by being cooked. That is the whole of the answer.