Pregnancy food guidance
Hollandaise sauce
Depends—Egg preparation matters
Choose hollandaise made with pasteurized eggs or eggs cooked to a safe temperature.
What changes the answer for Hollandaise sauce
- Sauce made with pasteurized eggs: safer.
- Raw or lightly cooked unpasteurized egg: avoid under cautious U.S. guidance.
- At a restaurant, ask how the eggs are handled.
Why it matters for Hollandaise sauce
Raw or undercooked eggs can carry Salmonella.
Practical takeaway
Ask for a sauce made with pasteurized eggs.
Evidence interpretation
Emily Oster’s perspective on Hollandaise sauce
Oster interprets the added pregnancy-specific risk from raw eggs as low and treats them similarly to a baseline food-poisoning risk. The site follows current cautious U.S. guidance in its takeaway.
Read the ParentData analysis (opens in a new tab)Sources and review details
- Review status
- Source reviewed
- Last reviewed
- Guidance region
- United States
- CDC: Safer Food Choices (opens in a new tab)Checked
- FDA: Eating Out and Bringing In (opens in a new tab)Checked
- Emily Oster, ParentData: What You Can (And Can’t) Eat While Pregnant (opens in a new tab)Checked
- The Bump: Top Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy (opens in a new tab)Checked Medically reviewed by Kendra Segura, MD