Can you eat profiteroles when pregnant?
Hannah Weiss
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Find out if it's safe to eat profiteroles during pregnancy, plus precautions to take to keep you and your baby healthy.
The official advice on eating profiteroles in pregnancy
Great news! Profiteroles are safe to eat while you're pregnant, as long as they're made with pasteurised cream.
Although they contain eggs, the eggs will be fully cooked by the time your profiteroles are baked, so there's no worries there.
Pasteurised cream
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Shop-bought profiteroles and cream will be pasteurised, because supermarkets aren't allowed to sell unpasteurised products. Most restaurant profiteroles will be made with pasteurised cream too, but if in doubt, you can always ask.
The NHS advises against having unpasteurised milk, cream or other dairy products during pregnancy. This is because they can contain certain types of harmful bacteria, including listeria. This can cause an infection called listeriosis, which could make your unborn baby very unwell. In rare cases, listeriosis can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth.
Sugar
Profiteroles are often sweetened with caster sugar. This is safe to eat during pregnancy, but it's best to do so in moderation.
Too much sugar can cause you to gain too much pregnancy weight, which isn't good for you or your baby. Research also suggests that consuming high levels of sugar while you're pregnant could potentially have a negative impact on your baby’s brain development.
According to the NHS, adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day – that's the equivalent of about seven sugar cubes. Free sugars include any sugar added to food or drinks, like cereal, sweets or desserts. The natural sugars found in fruit juice and honey count towards this limit too.
Chocolate sauce
Profiteroles are often topped with chocolate sauce. It's best to eat chocolate in moderation during pregnancy, because it contains caffeine. The NHS recommends having no more than 200mg of caffeine per day while you're pregnant, because it has been linked to low birthweight and miscarriage.
The amount of caffeine in the cocoa powder used to make chocolate sauce is very small, but it's worth thinking about if you have coffee and chocolate regularly.
Delicious dessert recipes
Love profiteroles? Why not try one of these great pregnancy-safe recipes?
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.
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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