Can I eat canned tuna while pregnant?
Yes. Canned light tuna, including skipjack, is on the FDA/EPA Best Choices list, so it can be part of your 2 to 3 fish servings a week. Canned white (albacore) tuna is a Good Choice: keep it to one 4-ounce serving a week. Avoid bigeye tuna, which is high in mercury. Shelf-stable canned tuna needs no extra cooking.
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Light vs white: same shelf, different lists
The two kinds of canned tuna sit side by side in the store, often at the same price, but they're on different FDA/EPA lists because they carry different amounts of mercury.
| Tuna | FDA/EPA list | How much in pregnancy |
|---|---|---|
| Canned light tuna (including skipjack) | Best Choice | Part of 2 to 3 servings a week of Best Choice fish |
| Canned or fresh white tuna (albacore) | Good Choice | 1 serving a week, as your only fish that week |
| Yellowfin tuna | Good Choice | 1 serving a week, as your only fish that week |
| Bigeye tuna | Choice to avoid | Skip completely in pregnancy and breastfeeding |
A serving is 4 ounces (about 113 g), roughly the size of your palm.
If albacore is your usual, the simplest change is to swap it for light tuna.
How much fish a week, all together
The FDA and EPA advise 8 to 12 ounces (about 225 to 340 g) a week of a variety of lower-mercury fish in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. That's 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices list, or 1 serving from the Good Choices list.
Here's how a week might look:
- Option A: a tuna melt with canned light tuna, sheet-pan salmon, and shrimp fried rice. Three Best Choice servings.
- Option B: one albacore tuna sandwich, and no other fish that week.
Variety helps. Canned light tuna is convenient, but it carries less DHA than fatty fish: about 170 mg per 3 ounces, compared with about 1,220 to 1,240 mg in salmon and about 740 mg in canned sardines. Make at least one weekly serving salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel or trout.
Outside the US, advice differs a little. The UK's NHS, for example, limits tuna to 4 cans or 2 steaks a week in pregnancy. Follow the guidance where you live and your provider's advice.
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Is canned tuna safe to eat cold?
Yes. Shelf-stable canned or pouched fish is fine in pregnancy, straight from the can, in a salad or a sandwich. The fish to watch for listeria is refrigerated smoked fish from the deli case, like lox, nova or kippered fish, which should only be eaten cooked into a hot dish until steaming.
Basic handling still applies: keep opened tuna cold in the fridge, and don't leave a tuna salad sitting out at a picnic. If you make a dressing at home that uses raw egg, use pasteurized eggs.
Fresh tuna steaks and restaurant tuna
The same lists apply to fresh tuna. Yellowfin and fresh albacore are Good Choices, so one serving a week, as your only fish that week. Bigeye tuna is on the avoid list, so ask restaurants and sushi bars what kind of tuna they serve.
Cooking matters too. Pregnancy food-safety advice is to cook seafood to 145°F (63°C), so tuna served seared on the outside and raw in the middle is one to skip for now. Ask for it cooked through, or choose another dish.
One more note: canned tuna isn't much of an iodine source, at about 7 mcg per 3 ounces. For iodine, lean on dairy, cod, eggs and iodized salt instead. See iodine during pregnancy.
Why tuna is worth keeping in your week
Fish brings DHA, the omega-3 fat built into brain cells and the eye's retina, plus iron, iodine and choline. The FDA lists all of these among the nutrients in fish that support a baby's brain. Your baby collects DHA fastest in the third trimester, about 50 mg a day by researchers' estimates, and it comes from your blood.
The big studies point one way. In the UK's ALSPAC study of 11,875 pregnant women, eating fish in pregnancy was linked with better verbal IQ scores in the children. In Spain's INMA study, where many women eat a lot of fish, eating more than 12 ounces of seafood a week was still linked to better scores on children's thinking tests. In the Seychelles, where mothers ate about 8 ocean-fish meals a week, researchers found no harm across 26 development measures. These are observational studies, so they show links, not proof. The authors of the Bristol study noted that women who held back on seafood didn't protect their children.
A can of light tuna is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to get fish on the table on a busy night.
Easy tuna meals
- Tuna-white bean salad. Canned light tuna, a can of white beans, red onion, olive oil and lemon. Lunch for two days, and the beans add iron.
- Tuna melt. Light tuna on whole-grain bread with cheese, heated until bubbling.
- Tuna pasta. Stir light tuna, peas and lemon into warm pasta.
Stock two cans of light tuna, two cans of salmon or sardines and a bag of frozen shrimp, so fish night survives a busy week. For the full list of safe fish, see what fish is safe during pregnancy. If you don't eat fish, ask your doctor about a DHA supplement: DHA during pregnancy.
After the birth, tuna stays on the menu. The 8 to 12 ounce advice covers breastfeeding too, and when your child is 1 to 3, the FDA suggests about 1 ounce per serving, twice a week, from the Best Choices list.
Do this
- Choose canned light (or skipjack) tuna instead of albacore.
- Keep albacore or yellowfin to one serving a week, as your only fish that week.
- Skip bigeye tuna, and ask restaurants what tuna they serve.
- Add at least one fatty fish like salmon or sardines each week for DHA.
- Refrigerate opened tuna and don't leave tuna salad sitting out.
When to ask your doctor
Check with your doctor or midwife first if…
- You have a fish allergy or a medical reason to limit fish: ask your doctor about an omega-3 supplement.
- You eat fish caught by family or friends: check the local advisory, or eat only one serving that week and no other fish.
Call your doctor now if…
- You have a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher in pregnancy: call your doctor now.
- You have severe belly pain that doesn't go away, or can't keep fluids down: call your doctor or 911 now.
This page is general information, not medical advice. Every pregnancy and every child is different. Ask your doctor, midwife or pediatrician before changing supplements, diet or care.
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In the book: Chapter 9: Fish Without Fear
Grow a Genius turns the FDA fish lists into a simple weekly plan, with the DHA in each fish, 15-minute recipes and what to do if you don't eat fish at all.
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People also ask
How many cans of tuna can I eat a week while pregnant?
In the US, canned light tuna is a Best Choice, so it can make up your 2 to 3 weekly servings of 4 ounces each, within the 8 to 12 ounce total. Albacore is limited to one serving a week. The UK's NHS uses a limit of 4 cans a week.
Is tuna in a pouch the same as canned?
For safety, yes: shelf-stable pouched fish is fine in pregnancy, just like canned. What matters is the type of tuna. Light or skipjack is a Best Choice, while white (albacore) is a Good Choice limited to one serving a week.
Can I eat a tuna sandwich from a deli while pregnant?
Canned tuna itself is fine cold. A sandwich made to order from canned tuna and eaten fresh is the simplest choice; ask which tuna they use if you want to stick to light. If you're unsure about a ready-made salad that has sat in a deli case, make tuna salad at home or ask your doctor or midwife.
Is tuna good for baby brain development?
Tuna brings DHA, iodine, iron and protein, nutrients that support the developing brain. Canned light tuna has less DHA than salmon or sardines, so mix it with a fatty fish each week for the most benefit.