Can I eat mushrooms while pregnant?

The verdict

Yes. Ordinary cultivated mushrooms - button, chestnut, portobello, oyster, shiitake, shimeji - are safe in pregnancy. No authority restricts them.

There is exactly one exception, and it is specific enough to be worth learning: enoki. Both the NHS and FSANZ name enoki mushrooms individually and both say the same thing. They must be cooked thoroughly, and must not be eaten raw or lightly cooked.

Foraged wild mushrooms are a separate question with a separate answer, dealt with below.

Why enoki, and only enoki

It is unusual for pregnancy guidance to name a single species of vegetable. The NHS list of foods to be careful with is otherwise made up of categories - cured meats, pre-packaged sandwiches, soft cheeses. Enoki gets its own entry, in the UK and in Australia.

The reason is a run of international listeria outbreaks and recalls traced to imported fresh enoki. FSANZ maintains dedicated advice on listeria monocytogenes in imported fresh enoki mushrooms, and enoki has been recalled in the US and elsewhere for the same reason.

What makes enoki different from a button mushroom is how it is grown and eaten. Enoki are cultivated in tight clusters in humid conditions, packed with the growing medium at the base, and then sold chilled in sealed bags with a long shelf life. That is close to the ideal profile for listeria, which FSANZ notes can grow over a wide temperature range and even in the fridge. And enoki are frequently used raw or barely wilted - scattered on a salad, dropped into a hot pot at the last second, garnishing a ramen - so there is often no cooking step at all.

Cooking fixes it. FSANZ's safer alternative is simply thoroughly cooked, and the NHS instruction is that they must be cooked thoroughly before eating. Neither country asks you to avoid enoki, only to cook it properly.

Why it matters in pregnancy specifically

Listeriosis is uncommon and, in an otherwise healthy adult, often mild. The NHS states that listeriosis in pregnancy can cause miscarriage or stillbirth, or make a newborn baby seriously unwell. That gap between how ill you feel and what can happen to your baby is the whole reason for guidance like this.

Raw mushrooms in general

No authority tells pregnant women to avoid raw cultivated mushrooms. Sliced raw button mushrooms on a salad are not restricted in the UK, Ireland, Australia or the US.

What does apply is the produce rule. The NHS asks that fruit, vegetables and salads be washed thoroughly to remove all traces of soil, which may contain toxoplasma, and mushrooms are grown in compost. Brushing or briefly rinsing them removes the growing medium; they do not need soaking, which makes them waterlogged.

Pre-sliced mushrooms in a chilled pack are a pre-prepared ready-to-eat product and follow the usual instruction: keep chilled, eat before the use-by date.

Cooking mushrooms is worth doing for reasons beyond safety - it makes them more digestible and improves the flavour considerably - but it is not required by any guidance except for enoki.

Wild and foraged mushrooms

This page does not tell you it is safe to eat mushrooms you picked, because that question is not about pregnancy.

Several wild species are lethally poisonous to anyone, and some closely resemble edible species. The relevant hazard is acute poisoning, principally liver failure, which is a catastrophic outcome in pregnancy for obvious reasons but is a catastrophic outcome regardless. Identification, not pregnancy status, is what determines whether a foraged mushroom is safe.

Wild mushrooms bought commercially - chanterelles, ceps, morels from a shop or a reputable supplier - have been identified by someone competent and are a different proposition. Morels in particular should be cooked thoroughly, as they are not safe raw for anyone.

If foraging is something you do, pregnancy does not add a new rule; it raises the cost of getting the existing one wrong.

Medicinal, functional and psychoactive mushrooms

Reishi, chaga, lion's mane and cordyceps sold as powders, capsules or in coffee blends are supplements rather than foods, and ShePrep does not cover supplements. They have not been assessed for pregnancy by any regulator, the doses are not comparable to eating a mushroom, and the honest answer is that nobody knows. That is a conversation for your midwife or GP.

Psilocybin mushrooms are illegal in the countries covered here and there is no safety data in pregnancy. They are not a food question.

How much is too much

There is no published limit for mushrooms in pregnancy in any country.

One point of general interest rather than restriction: mushrooms exposed to ultraviolet light generate vitamin D, and some are sold specifically as vitamin D enriched. That is a useful addition rather than a substitute for the vitamin D supplement recommended in pregnancy, which is a separate matter to discuss with your midwife.

If you have already eaten raw enoki

Almost certainly nothing follows. Listeriosis is rare and most enoki carries no listeria at all. The NHS position on foods that should have been avoided is that a small amount is unlikely to affect your baby if you did not become ill, and there is no test done on exposure alone.

Watch the following days and weeks for flu-like symptoms: a high temperature, aches, chills, sometimes sickness or diarrhoea. Listeriosis can take weeks to appear, so it may not feel connected to the meal. NHS advice is to get help from 111 if you feel unwell after eating something that should be avoided in pregnancy. Say you are pregnant and that you ate raw enoki mushrooms - it changes which test is requested.

If you have eaten a wild mushroom you cannot identify and feel unwell, that is an emergency rather than a wait-and-see: seek urgent medical help and take a sample or a photograph of the mushroom with you.

Where guidance differs

Barely at all, which is notable for a food this varied.

The UK and Australia both name enoki and both require thorough cooking. FSANZ formalises it in a table row and maintains separate technical advice on imported fresh enoki; the NHS puts it in a consumer list. The instruction is identical.

Ireland and the United States do not name enoki in pregnancy guidance, though enoki has been subject to US recalls on listeria grounds. Neither country restricts any other mushroom.

No country restricts cultivated mushrooms generally, raw or cooked, and none recommends avoiding mushrooms as a category.