Yes, you can eat mayonnaise while pregnant, as long as it’s made with pasteurized eggs. The store-bought mayo sitting in your fridge almost certainly qualifies. Commercially produced mayonnaise, dressings, and sauces sold in the United States are required to use pasteurized eggs, making them safe during pregnancy. The concern only applies to homemade mayo or fresh-made versions at restaurants that use raw, unpasteurized eggs.
Why Store-Bought Mayo Is Safe
The FDA specifically notes that commercial mayonnaise, dressings, and sauces contain pasteurized eggs and are safe to eat. Pasteurization is a heat treatment that kills harmful bacteria before the eggs are used in production. Brands like Hellmann’s, Duke’s, and Kraft all use pasteurized eggs in their retail products, so any jar or squeeze bottle you grab off a grocery store shelf is fine.
Once opened, commercial mayo stays safe in the refrigerator for about two months. The USDA recommends refrigerating any perishable food within two hours of serving (one hour if the temperature is above 90°F), so keep that in mind at cookouts or buffets where mayo-based dishes sit out.
The Problem With Homemade Mayo
Homemade mayonnaise is a different story. Traditional recipes call for raw egg yolks whisked with oil, lemon juice, or vinegar, and raw eggs can carry Salmonella. The CDC estimates that roughly one in every 20,000 eggs is contaminated. That sounds rare, but Salmonella infection during pregnancy can cause severe dehydration, and in rare cases the bacteria can cross the placenta.
You might assume the acid in lemon juice or vinegar would kill any bacteria, but research shows otherwise. A study on Salmonella survival in homemade mayo found that the bacteria can survive the mayo-making process even in the presence of both vinegar and lemon juice. Lemon juice performed slightly better than vinegar at reducing bacteria during refrigerated storage, but neither was reliable enough to eliminate the risk.
The FDA lists homemade mayonnaise alongside other raw-egg foods to avoid during pregnancy, including homemade Caesar dressing, hollandaise sauce, aioli, mousse, and tiramisu.
How to Make Homemade Mayo Safely
If you prefer making your own, the fix is simple: use pasteurized eggs. The USDA confirms that homemade mayonnaise can be safely made with pasteurized eggs or pasteurized egg products. You can find these at most supermarkets in several forms:
- Pasteurized shell eggs in the refrigerator section, labeled “pasteurized”
- Liquid pasteurized egg products in the refrigerator section
- Powdered egg whites in the baking section
The texture and taste are virtually identical to mayo made with regular eggs. Just check the label to confirm the word “pasteurized” before you buy.
Eating Mayo at Restaurants
Most chain restaurants and fast-food places use commercial mayo from bulk containers, which is pasteurized and safe. The risk comes from higher-end or independent restaurants that make their own mayo, aioli, or emulsified sauces from scratch using raw eggs. If you’re unsure, ask your server whether their mayo or aioli is house-made and whether it uses pasteurized eggs. This is especially important for dishes like Caesar salad, eggs Benedict (hollandaise), and garlic aioli, which are commonly made fresh.
What About Mayo-Based Salads?
Potato salad, egg salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad all use mayo as a base, and the mayo itself isn’t the concern with these dishes. The bigger risk is how they’re stored. Mayonnaise-based deli salads can harbor Listeria, a bacteria particularly dangerous during pregnancy. A large study of deli salads found Listeria in about 6.7% of samples tested, with the highest rates in salads containing smoked fish.
The USDA recommends eating homemade or store-prepared mayo-based salads within three to five days and keeping them refrigerated at all times. Avoid deli salads that have been sitting at room temperature for more than two hours, and skip any that contain smoked fish or seafood from a deli counter unless you can confirm they’ve been properly refrigerated the entire time.
Egg-Free Mayo as an Alternative
If you’d rather sidestep the question entirely, vegan mayo eliminates any egg-related risk. Brands like Vegenaise and Sir Kensington’s use plant-based ingredients (typically soy protein or aquafaba) instead of eggs. These are safe during pregnancy and widely available in grocery stores. The taste and texture have improved significantly in recent years, making them a practical swap for sandwiches, dressings, and dips.