Is fondue safe during pregnancy

What does the evidence say about cheese and meat fondue during pregnancy?

1. Standard pregnancy guidance is to avoid all alcohol, including the wine that's a traditional ingredient in cheese fondue, though a single incidental exposure is considered much less concerning than heavy or repeated drinking. 1
2. Cheese made with pasteurized milk carries very low risk, and even cheese that hasn't been pasteurized carries little added risk once it's been cooked or heated before eating, which is relevant to a pot of hot, melted cheese fondue. 2
3. Heating food to steaming hot, at least 165°F, is hot enough to kill listeria, the same benchmark that separates a bubbling pot of cheese fondue from a cold soft-cheese platter. 3
4. Beef needs to reach at least 145°F to be considered safely cooked, while ground meat needs a higher 160°F, both useful benchmarks if you're cooking bite-sized cubes of meat yourself at the table in a meat fondue pot. 4
5. Meat is done cooking once it's no longer pink and the juices run clear, and any fork, plate, or cutting board that touched raw meat should be washed with hot soapy water before it touches food you're about to eat, both relevant to a self-cooked meat fondue where the same fork often spears raw and cooked pieces. 5

Is cheese and meat fondue safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. Cheese fondue is one of the more forgiving hot foods in the first trimester, since a steaming pot of melted cheese and wine is very different from a cold cheese platter. If you're eating out, it's fine to ask whether the cheese is pasteurized and how the meat fondue broth or oil is kept hot.
• Second trimester. The same guidance holds steady in the second trimester. If you're making fondue at home, use a food thermometer for the meat cubes rather than guessing by color alone, since a quick sear can look done on the outside while staying underdone in the middle.
• Third trimester. Keep the same habits in the third trimester, when a listeria infection carries its most serious risks, including preterm labor. Use a clean fork or plate for cooked meat instead of the one you used to spear it raw, and let the fondue pot come back to a steaming bubble if it cooled down while you were dipping and chatting.