Can you eat beef jerky while pregnant?
Not advisedBeef jerky is best skipped during pregnancy. It is dried and cured rather than freshly cooked, and unlike deli meat you cannot heat it until steaming to make it safe.
Why
The NHS advises avoiding cured meats in pregnancy because of the small risk of toxoplasmosis, and dried meats have also been linked to Salmonella outbreaks. With deli meat there is an easy fix, reheating, but jerky is eaten straight from the bag, so the usual safety step does not exist. Commercial US jerky gets a heat treatment during processing, which lowers the risk, but no health agency has cleared it for pregnancy, so the cautious call is to wait.
Safer alternatives
- Roasted chickpeas or salted nuts for the salty crunch
- Hard pasteurized cheese like aged cheddar
- Fresh-cooked steak strips, cooked through, for the beef craving
Sources
- NHS https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
- FDA (foodsafety.gov) https://www.foodsafety.gov/people-at-risk/pregnant-women
Every verdict follows our sourcing methodology: official health guidelines only, most cautious position when they differ.
Frequently asked questions
Is commercial jerky safer than homemade?
Yes, noticeably: US commercial producers must use a heat step that homemade dehydrator recipes often skip. It is still not officially cleared for pregnancy, so treat it as a lower-risk skip rather than a green light. Homemade and farmers-market jerky are the clearest no.
What about biltong or meat sticks?
Biltong is air-dried and never heated, so it carries the same concerns with even less processing. Shelf-stable cooked meat snacks are a different product, but their labels rarely make the distinction easy, so nuts or cheese are simpler picks.
I ate jerky before I knew I was pregnant. Should I worry?
No need to panic: the risk from any single serving is small, and commercial jerky is heat-treated. Mention it at your next appointment if you feel unwell, and simply switch snacks going forward.
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