Is pepperoni safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about pepperoni during pregnancy?

1. Cold cuts and dry, fermented sausages like pepperoni need to be heated until steaming, about 165°F, before they count as a safe bet in pregnancy. 1
2. Reheating deli meats and cold cuts to steaming hot kills the Listeria bacteria that can hide in ready-to-eat products like these. 2
3. The toxoplasmosis parasite can hide in meat that isn't fully cooked, and passing it to a baby during pregnancy can raise the chance of birth defects and other complications. 3
4. Lab research on dry salt-aged pork sausage found the toxoplasmosis parasite dies off rapidly once the curing process begins, good news for properly made salt-aged pepperoni. 4
5. A 2026 review of ready-to-eat meat safety found heat-based methods gave the most consistent results for wiping out Listeria, more reliable than most non-heat approaches. 5

Is pepperoni safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. Pizza cravings often start early, and hot pepperoni pizza is a perfectly good choice in the first trimester. If nausea makes greasy toppings unappealing some days, that's normal and not a food-safety issue: the real concern with pepperoni is temperature, not the meat itself.
• Second trimester. Appetite usually picks back up by the second trimester, so a hot pepperoni pizza stays a simple, safe choice. Save any cold pepperoni from a charcuterie board or antipasto platter for later, or ask that it be heated through first.
• Third trimester. The same heat rule holds right up to delivery: pepperoni is fine straight from the oven or fully reheated. Greasy or spicy pizza can aggravate third-trimester heartburn for some women though, so let your own comfort guide the toppings.