Can You Eat Surimi While Pregnant? What the Official Guidance Says

What to remember: surimi is one of the foods to avoid during pregnancy. The Assurance maladie (the French national health insurance) puts it in the same group as smoked fish, raw fish and tarama, because of listeriosis. It is cooked during manufacturing, but that is not enough. To replace it, choose shrimp bought raw and cooked at home, or well-cooked fish.

Cooked, packaged, sold in the refrigerated aisle: surimi looks risk-free. Here is what the guidance says, where it hides, and what to eat instead.

1. Can you eat surimi while pregnant?
2. Dishes where surimi hides
3. Have you already eaten some?
4. Which fish to choose instead

Can you eat surimi while pregnant?

No. On its page about foods to avoid during pregnancy, the Assurance maladie mentions surimi twice: among the foods to avoid because of listeriosis, along with smoked fish, raw fish, raw shellfish and tarama, and then alongside seafood, where preparations such as tarama, lumpfish roe or surimi must also be avoided.

Why cooking at the factory is not enough

Surimi is indeed cooked during manufacturing. But it is eaten cold, after time in the refrigerator, like other cooked products that appear on the same list: rillettes, pâtés or products in aspic. So the guidance does not only target raw foods, but also these ready-to-eat products.

What listeriosis can cause

Listeriosis often goes unnoticed in the mother, or looks like a mild flu, with fever and body aches. In pregnant women, however, it can lead to a miscarriage or premature birth. That is why the list of foods to avoid is so broad, and why it applies throughout the entire pregnancy.

Dishes where surimi hides

The sticks are easy to spot. Surimi is less obvious when it is mixed with other ingredients. Remember to ask or to read the label for:

• California rolls and makis described as "crab";
• mixed salads from the deli counter or sandwich shops;
• appetizer verrines and toasts, especially during the holidays;
• products sold as "crab-flavored sticks" or "seafood flakes."

The same reasoning applies to smoked salmon during pregnancy, which is also on the list.

Have you already eaten some?

It happens, especially before you knew this guidance. For a food contaminated with Listeria, Santé publique France (the French national public health agency) gives simple instructions:

1. with no symptoms, no test and no antibiotics;
2. for the next two months, watch for the appearance of a fever or headaches;
3. if one appears, see a doctor without delay and tell them what you ate.

During pregnancy, listeriosis can be limited to a mild fever: that is why a fever, even a slight one, warrants this visit. For other digestive troubles, our article on food poisoning during pregnancy covers the topic.

Which fish to choose instead

Craving seafood or fish? The official recommendations leave plenty of choice, as long as it is well cooked. For shellfish, the advice is to buy them raw and cook them at home: peeled shrimp sold already cooked should also be avoided.

For a fresh salad that recalls surimi, replace it with shrimp bought raw, cooked, then chilled in the refrigerator, or with flaked poached cod. Save the surimi for after the birth.

Sources

• Assurance maladie (ameli.fr), "Les aliments à éviter et les précautions d'hygiène pendant la grossesse" (Foods to avoid and hygiene precautions during pregnancy), updated June 19, 2026
• sante.fr, "Quels aliments éviter et quelles précautions prendre quand on est enceinte ?" (Which foods to avoid and what precautions to take when pregnant), October 15, 2025
• Anses, "Qu'est-ce que la listériose et comment s'en prémunir ?" (What is listeriosis and how to protect yourself from it), August 20, 2025
• Santé publique France, "Listériose : la maladie" (Listeriosis: the disease), updated September 19, 2025

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