Can you eat lasagne when pregnant?

Find out if it's safe to eat lasagne during pregnancy, including advice on white sauce. Plus precautions to take to keep yourself and your baby healthy.

The official advice on eating lasagne in pregnancy

Good news! You can eat lasagne while you're pregnant. Some ingredient combinations, like spinach and mushrooms for a veggie lasagne, are perfectly safe to eat during pregnancy.

Meat lasagne

If you're having a lasagne with meat, make sure it's completely cooked before serving, with no traces of pink or blood. The NHS advises against eating raw or pink meat when you're pregnant. This includes all kinds of meat, including lamb and beef mince, chicken and pork.

Uncooked meat can contain a parasite which causes toxoplasmosis. This can lead to complications in pregnancy, including a small risk of miscarriage. Cooking the meat thoroughly will make it safe to eat, though.

White sauce

White sauce is safe to eat with your lasagne, provided that the milk, butter and cheese used is pasteurised.

According to the NHS, unpasteurised dairy products can contain a harmful bacteria called listeria. This can cause an infection called listeriosis, which could make your unborn baby very unwell and lead to miscarriage or stillbirth. All dairy products sold in UK supermarkets are pasteurised, though, so you don't usually have to worry.

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Hard cheeses like parmesan are safe to eat while pregnant because they contain less water than soft cheeses, making it harder for bacteria to grow. Pasteurised soft cheeses including mozzarella and ricotta are also perfectly fine whether served cold or cooked. So it's perfectly fine to have a cheesy topping on your lasagne, too!

If you use a soft blue cheese like gorgonzola or a mould-ripened soft cheese such as camembert, ensure it has been cooked until it's steaming hot before serving.

Red and white wine

The NHS advises against consuming any alcohol during pregnancy. This is because even small amounts of alcohol could lead to long-term harm for your baby. Alcohol isn't always cooked off in food, so to be on the safe side, it's best to leave wine out of your lasagne recipe.

Delicious lasagne recipes

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

• Slow cooker lasagne
• Quick and easy lasagne
• Healthy lasagne (leave out the red wine)

The Day-by-Day Pregnancy Book: Count Down Your Pregnancy Day by Day by Dr Maggie Blott is packed full of advice from a team of experts to help guide you through your pregnancy from conception to birth. 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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