Tiramisu in Pregnancy: Raw Egg, Mascarpone and Alcohol

Tiramisu in pregnancy: how to think about it

Tiramisu raises three separate pregnancy questions at once, which is why the answer is conditional. The traditional recipe folds raw egg into mascarpone without cooking it, and NHS guidance on eggs says raw or lightly cooked eggs are fine if they carry the British Lion mark or are pasteurized, and should otherwise be avoided or cooked through because of salmonella. The dessert commonly contains marsala, rum or a coffee liqueur, and that alcohol is not cooked off, which matters given NHS advice to avoid alcohol in pregnancy. It also contains coffee, which counts towards the roughly 200 mg daily caffeine limit. Mascarpone itself is a soft cheese but is normally made from pasteurized cream in commercial production, so it is usually the least of the three issues. The practical approach is to check the egg, the alcohol and the caffeine rather than to rule the dessert out.

Working through a longer grocery list? The Pregnancy Food Safety Hub gathers all 50 SafeMama food and drink guides, grouped by pasteurization, cooking temperature and mercury questions.

Tiramisu: safer choices

• Shop-bought tiramisu made with pasteurized egg, which removes the main concern. Check the ingredient list or the packaging.
• In the UK, desserts made with British Lion stamped eggs, which NHS guidance says can be eaten raw or lightly cooked including in mousses and similar desserts.
• Asking in a restaurant whether the tiramisu is made with pasteurized egg and whether it contains alcohol, then deciding from the answer.
• Choosing an eggless or cooked-custard version, which some recipes and products use.
• Accounting for the coffee content within the roughly 200 mg daily caffeine guidance for pregnancy.

Tiramisu: what to avoid or double-check

• Avoid homemade or restaurant tiramisu made with raw shell eggs that are not pasteurized or Lion marked, where the egg source cannot be confirmed.
• Avoid versions with a meaningful amount of added marsala, rum or liqueur if you are following the advice to avoid alcohol, since the alcohol in tiramisu is not cooked off.
• Avoid dessert left standing at room temperature on a buffet, since mascarpone is a soft dairy product that needs refrigeration.
• Do not assume shop-bought always means pasteurized. Check the label rather than the format.

How SafeMama helps

SafeMama can flag pasteurized and unpasteurized egg wording, alcohol ingredients such as marsala and rum, mascarpone and other soft dairy, and coffee content on dessert labels, so you can check a specific tiramisu rather than guess.

Open the SafeMama app, scan the barcode or search the ingredient, then use the result as a starting point for a conversation with your healthcare provider.

Sources

• NHS foods to avoid in pregnancy
• FDA egg safety
• NHS drinking alcohol while pregnant