Can I eat olives while pregnant?

The verdict

Yes. Olives are safe at every stage of pregnancy, green or black, whole or pitted, stuffed or plain. They appear on no national avoid list, limit list or be-careful-with list in the UK, United States, Australia or Ireland.

They are also not a food any authority has felt the need to comment on, so almost everything below is about the two things that genuinely apply: salt, and where you bought them.

The salt question

Olives are cured. That is the entire point of the process - raw olives are inedibly bitter, and curing in brine, dry salt or lye is what makes them food. The consequence is that olives are among the saltiest things people eat casually.

A modest bowl of olives can carry a substantial fraction of a day's salt allowance, and because they are eaten as a snack rather than as part of a meal, they rarely get counted.

The NHS figure for adults is no more than 6g of salt a day. Its reason is blood pressure: eating too much salt raises it, and high blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

In pregnancy, blood pressure has an extra significance. Raised blood pressure is a feature of pre-eclampsia, a condition the NHS describes as usually appearing after 20 weeks and requiring monitoring. Nothing about eating olives causes pre-eclampsia, and no authority suggests restricting salt to prevent it. But if you have been told your blood pressure is being watched, or you have been asked to reduce salt, olives are a much bigger contributor than they look.

Reading the label

UK and Irish packaging gives salt per 100g. The NHS thresholds are that more than 1.5g of salt per 100g is high and 0.3g or less per 100g is low. Most olives sit well into the high band.

Rinsing olives under running water before eating removes some of the surface brine. It is a real reduction, though a modest one, since the salt has penetrated the flesh during curing.

Jarred, tinned and vacuum-packed olives

These are the straightforward version. Shelf-stable olives in a sealed jar or tin have been processed and preserved, and they are stable at room temperature until opened. There is no listeria route, no pasteurisation question and no pregnancy restriction.

Once opened, they become a chilled food. Keep the jar in the fridge, keep the olives under the brine, and use them within the period the label states.

Deli-counter and marinated olives

This is the version worth thinking about, and the reason has nothing to do with olives.

Olives sold loose from open trays at a deli counter, a market stall or an antipasti bar are chilled ready-to-eat foods. They have been sitting in a shallow dish, sometimes at ambient temperature, with utensils and hands moving in and out of them.

safefood in Ireland lists ready-to-eat foods from salad bars and delicatessens among foods to avoid in pregnancy. The HSE says to avoid deli counters as the food hygiene may be compromised. FSANZ's precaution for delicatessen items is to buy products packaged by the manufacturer and to limit time spent in the danger zone between 5 and 60 degrees.

The UK does not name deli olives specifically, but its general instruction for chilled ready-to-eat foods is to keep them chilled and eat them before the use-by date - a standard an open tray cannot meet.

Marinated olives with fresh garlic, herbs or chilli in oil raise an additional and separate point about oil-based preserves. Fresh garlic stored in oil at room temperature is a recognised botulism risk in home preserving, which is why commercial garlic-in-oil products are acidified and refrigerated. This is a general food safety issue rather than a pregnancy one, but it argues for buying such products rather than making them, and for keeping them refrigerated.

Stuffed olives

An olive stuffed with something else follows the rules for the stuffing.

Pimento, almond, garlic and jalapeno stuffings raise nothing. Anchovy-stuffed olives are cured fish, and cured fish is on the be-careful-with or avoid lists in several countries - the NHS asks that cold-smoked and cured fish be cooked until steaming hot, and the HSE lists raw or smoked fish among foods to avoid. Anchovies in a stuffed olive are salt-cured rather than smoked, and no authority names them, but if you are being cautious this is where the caution belongs rather than on the olive itself.

Feta or blue cheese stuffed olives follow the cheese rules. Pasteurised feta is on the NHS safe list; soft blue cheese must be cooked until steaming hot.

Olive oil

Olive oil is unrestricted in pregnancy by every authority. It is a fat, and the general dietary advice about fats applies - NHS pregnancy guidance notes that fat is high in calories and lists oils among the foods high in fat - but there is no safety rule.

Extra virgin, cold pressed and unfiltered oils are all fine. There is no pasteurisation question with oil.

How much is too much

There is no published limit for olives in pregnancy from any authority. The practical ceiling is the salt figure of 6g a day for adults, which covers everything you eat, not olives alone.

Salt cravings in pregnancy are common and are not a sign of anything worrying. Following one within reason is fine. What is worth avoiding is a habit of eating large quantities of olives daily on top of an already salty diet, particularly if your blood pressure is being monitored.

If you have already eaten a lot of olives

Nothing follows, and there is nothing to report or test for. There is no acute risk from a salty meal and no reason to raise it at an appointment.

If you have eaten olives from an open deli tray, the same applies as for any chilled ready-to-eat food: the NHS notes that a small amount of something that should have been avoided is unlikely to affect your baby if you did not become ill. Watch the following days and weeks for a flu-like illness with a high temperature and aches, and contact your midwife, GP or 111 if you feel unwell, saying that you are pregnant.

Swelling in your hands, face or feet, a bad headache, vision changes or pain below your ribs are not olive problems - they are pre-eclampsia symptoms and need same-day assessment regardless of what you have eaten.

Where guidance differs

Not on olives, which no country restricts.

The divergence is about deli counters, and it is real. Ireland is the strictest: safefood lists ready-to-eat foods from salad bars and delicatessens among foods to avoid, and the HSE advises avoiding deli counters altogether. Australia is close behind, advising that products packaged by the manufacturer are preferable. The UK and the United States set conditions - chilled, in date - rather than issuing a prohibition.

Nobody differs on jarred or tinned olives, which are unrestricted everywhere, and nobody differs on olive oil.