Forbidden food during breastfeeding: raw meat or fish, raw-milk cheeses, sushi?

Elise Armoiry My Baby Moon
Dec 2, 2025
2 min read

There is a lot of contradictory information circulating about breastfeeding, and all questions related to diet are part of it! I have already written an article on foods to avoid while breastfeeding, and this article complements it. Is there any forbidden food during breastfeeding?

And more specifically, I received the specific question: can you eat sushi while breastfeeding? And raw-milk cheese?

During pregnancy, certain precautions must be taken and some foods are not recommended. Indeed, raw meat, raw fish, and raw milk can be contaminated by bacteria and parasites: Salmonella, Vibrio, E. coli, Toxoplasma, or Listeria monocytogenes. These bacteria and parasites can cause infectious symptoms in pregnant women and negatively affect the fetus (e.g., preterm birth or in-utero death).

But if contamination occurs after birth, during breastfeeding: is there a risk of infectious transmission to the baby via breast milk?

Data are reassuring, and overall for these various infections, the following points can be mentioned:

Forbidden food during breastfeeding: transfer into milk depending on the germ

Listeriosis:

It is not certain that the Listeria bacterium passes into breast milk, and there is no study on this topic for listeriosis.

Salmonellosis:

There is only one reported case of transmission of the Salmonella bacterium in breast milk. In most cases, it is not necessary to stop breastfeeding if the breastfeeding woman has salmonellosis.

E. coli:

This bacterium does not pass into breast milk.

Toxoplasma gondii:

This parasite is present in the blood, but there is no study showing its passage into breast milk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that women with an active toxoplasmosis infection continue breastfeeding, unless they have skin lesions or bleeding on the nipples.

Vibrio:

Vibrio is generally not transmitted from person to person. Breast milk can help protect babies against many types of bacteria. One study suggested that breastfeeding helps reduce the risk of cholera in infants whose mother was ill. Another study suggested that a common probiotic (bacterium) in breast milk helps reduce the growth of Vibrio cholerae. It is therefore not necessary to stop breastfeeding in case of Vibrio infection.

Impact of illness on lactation

Digestive symptoms (diarrhea, vomiting) can lead to a decrease in milk supply, and it is recommended that the mother stays hydrated and resumes feeding more frequently when she feels better, in order to boost lactation.

Benefits of breast milk in case of maternal infection

In general, continuing breastfeeding is recommended in case of infection (with hygiene precautions: handwashing) since the mother’s body will produce antibodies related to the infection and breast milk will protect the baby.