Pho is generally safe and can be a nutritious choice during pregnancy, as long as you pay attention to a few key ingredients. The warm broth provides hydration and electrolytes, the rice noodles are easy on a queasy stomach, and the soup overall delivers protein and nutrients. But certain versions of pho, particularly those with rare beef or raw bean sprouts, carry real risks worth understanding before you order.
Why Pho Can Be a Good Pregnancy Meal
A bowl of pho checks several boxes for what many pregnant people need. The broth is hydrating, which matters when nausea makes it hard to keep fluids down. Rice noodles are naturally gluten-free and tend to be gentle on the stomach. The protein from cooked meat, or tofu if you prefer, supports the increased protein demands of pregnancy. And ginger, a staple in pho broth, contains bioactive compounds with anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea properties, making it especially appealing during the first trimester when morning sickness peaks.
The herbs that come with pho, like Thai basil and cilantro, are safe in the amounts you’d find in a normal bowl. A systematic review of herbal safety during pregnancy classified basil as “use with caution,” but that caution applies to concentrated doses or supplements, not the few leaves you tear into your soup.
The Rare Beef Problem
The biggest concern with pho during pregnancy is “pho tai,” the version made with thinly sliced raw beef that cooks in the hot broth at the table. While the broth is very hot and the beef slices are thin, this method doesn’t reliably bring the meat to a safe internal temperature of 145°F for whole cuts or 160°F for ground beef.
Undercooked beef can harbor a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which causes toxoplasmosis. This infection is particularly dangerous during pregnancy because it can cross the placenta. In babies, it can cause hearing loss, intellectual disability, and blindness, with some problems not appearing until years after birth. The tricky part is that toxoplasmosis often has no obvious symptoms in the mother, or produces only mild flu-like signs like swollen glands and muscle pain, so you might never realize you’ve been infected.
Undercooked meat also raises the risk of bacterial infections like Listeria, which pregnant people are significantly more susceptible to than the general population. The solution is straightforward: order pho with fully cooked meat. Options like well-done brisket (chin), cooked flank, tendon, or meatballs are all safe choices. If you’re eating at home, make sure any beef reaches the proper internal temperature before you eat it. If you’re at a restaurant and the rare beef arrives still pink, let it sit in the hot broth for several extra minutes until it’s completely cooked through, or simply ask for your meat to be pre-cooked in the kitchen.
Skip the Raw Bean Sprouts
Many pho restaurants serve a plate of raw garnishes alongside your bowl, including bean sprouts, herbs, and lime wedges. Raw bean sprouts are on the CDC’s list of riskier foods for pregnant women because they can carry Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli. The warm, moist conditions sprouts grow in are ideal for bacterial growth.
Cooked sprouts are fine. If the sprouts are added to your broth and heated until steaming, the risk drops significantly. But the sprouts on the garnish plate are raw. You can simply leave them off, or ask for your bowl without sprouts. Most restaurants won’t bat an eye at this request.
Watch the Sodium
This is where pho gets less ideal as an everyday pregnancy food. A typical restaurant bowl contains 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams of sodium, and some bowls push as high as 2,375 milligrams. The general recommended daily limit is 2,300 milligrams, meaning a single bowl can account for nearly all of it. High sodium intake during pregnancy contributes to water retention, elevated blood pressure, and can worsen swelling that’s already common in later trimesters.
A few ways to manage this: don’t drink all the broth (the noodles, meat, and toppings deliver plenty of flavor on their own), skip adding extra fish sauce or hoisin sauce at the table, and if you’re making pho at home, use a low-sodium broth as your base. Having pho once or twice a week at a restaurant is unlikely to cause problems for most people, but making it a daily habit could push your sodium intake consistently too high.
What About MSG?
Many pho broths, especially at restaurants, contain MSG. The current scientific picture is incomplete. Human studies on MSG’s effects during pregnancy are essentially nonexistent. Animal studies have raised concerns about potential effects on fetal development, including changes in brain chemistry, liver development, and hormonal pathways related to growth. However, these studies typically used doses far higher than what you’d encounter in a bowl of soup, and the results haven’t been confirmed in people.
MSG in the amounts found in a normal serving of pho is generally considered safe by food safety agencies. If it concerns you, homemade pho gives you full control over the ingredients, and many recipes build rich flavor from bone broth, spices, and aromatics without adding MSG.
How to Order Pho Safely
Getting a pregnancy-safe bowl of pho doesn’t require much effort. Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Choose cooked meats. Brisket, well-done flank, meatballs, tendon, or tripe are all fully cooked before they reach your bowl. Tofu or chicken pho are also good alternatives.
- Avoid pho tai. If rare beef is included in a combination bowl, let it sit in the broth until no pink remains, or ask the kitchen to cook it through.
- Leave off raw sprouts. Use the herbs, lime, and chili from the garnish plate, but skip the raw bean sprouts.
- Go easy on the broth and sauces. Enjoying some broth is fine, but you don’t need to finish every drop, especially if you’re watching sodium or dealing with swelling.
Pho can be one of the more satisfying meals during pregnancy, especially when nausea makes heavier foods unappealing. A warm, brothy soup with protein and noodles is exactly the kind of meal that tends to sit well. With a couple of small adjustments to how you order it, there’s no reason to avoid it.