Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: A Label Guide to Food and Skincare Ingredients Worth Knowing
Caffeine, alcohol, liquorice, retinol, high-mercury fish, retinoids, hydroquinone and more: the ingredients pregnancy and breastfeeding guidance mentions most, and how to spot them on a label.
The moment you find out you're expecting, every label in the shop starts to look different. Is there caffeine in this? Is that cheese pasteurised? Can I keep using my retinol serum? The guidance exists, but it's spread across leaflets, websites and well-meaning advice from relatives.
This guide brings together the ingredients that pregnancy and breastfeeding guidance mentions most often, on food and on skincare, and shows how to spot them on a label. It's a list of things worth knowing, not a list of rules. Your doctor or midwife knows your situation, and their advice comes first.
Food: ingredients worth knowing in pregnancy
These are the ingredients that the NHS and similar public health bodies most often mention for pregnancy:
- Alcohol
- NHS guidance is that no alcohol is the safest choice in pregnancy.
- Caffeine (coffee, tea, cola, guarana, energy drinks)
- NHS advises keeping caffeine under 200 mg a day.
- Liquorice (mulethi, glycyrrhizin)
- Large amounts are best avoided in pregnancy.
- Vitamin A as retinol, and liver
- NHS advises avoiding high-dose vitamin A and liver products.
- Shark, swordfish, marlin
- High in mercury; NHS advises avoiding them in pregnancy.
- Unpasteurised (raw) milk products
- Can carry listeria.
- Saccharin (E954)
- Some guidance suggests limiting it, as it crosses the placenta.
- Herbal extracts such as ashwagandha, senna, aloe vera
- Little safety evidence in pregnancy; your doctor can advise.
Caffeine adds up quickly
The NHS suggests keeping caffeine under 200 mg a day in pregnancy. It isn't only in coffee: tea, cola, energy drinks, chocolate and some “natural energy” ingredients such as guarana all count. Rough amounts:
| Mug of instant coffee | about 100 mg |
| Mug of filter coffee | about 140 mg |
| Mug of tea | about 75 mg |
| Can of cola | about 40 mg |
| 250 ml can of energy drink | about 80 mg |
| 50 g bar of plain chocolate | up to 25 mg |
On a label, look for coffee, tea, cola, guarana, “caffeine” and green coffee extract. In India, caffeinated drinks must state their caffeine content and that they aren't recommended for pregnant or lactating women.
Skincare: actives worth a pause
What you put on your skin matters too, because some actives are absorbed. These are the ones dermatologists most often suggest pausing or swapping during pregnancy:
- Retinoids (retinol, retinal, tretinoin, adapalene)
- Usually paused in pregnancy.
- Hydroquinone
- Absorbed through the skin more than most actives.
- High-strength salicylic acid
- Low-strength cleansers are generally considered fine; strong peels are usually avoided.
- Formaldehyde releasers (DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, bronopol)
- Many people prefer to avoid them in pregnancy.
- Oxybenzone (benzophenone-3)
- Mineral sunscreens are a common alternative.
Retinoids hide under many names on an INCI list: retinol, retinal, retinyl palmitate, retinyl acetate, tretinoin, adapalene and hydroxypinacolone retinoate. If your skincare is prescription, talk to whoever prescribed it before changing anything.
While breastfeeding
After the birth the list gets much shorter. Most foods are fine, and the guidance mainly covers two things that pass into breast milk:
- Alcohol
- Passes into breast milk; NHS suggests waiting 2–3 hours per drink before feeding.
- Caffeine
- Passes into breast milk; NHS suggests keeping it under 200 mg a day.
And for the baby, once they start solids: honey isn't given before their first birthday, and the NHS advises not adding salt or sugar to their food.
How TrustPick checks it for you
In the TrustPick app, add “pregnant” or “breastfeeding” to your profile and every food and skincare product you scan is checked for the ingredients above. Each note names the label line and its source, and is worded gently: “Contains caffeine: NHS advises keeping caffeine under 200 mg a day in pregnancy.” Only alcohol in pregnancy is shown as not a fit; everything else is a check first.
A few things we built in on purpose:
- You confirm before pregnancy or breastfeeding is used, and you can remove it in one tap.
- It never reaches our analytics. Misha uses it only to answer your questions.
- Does your partner do the shopping? They can add you as a family member tagged pregnant or breastfeeding.
- After the birth, change your profile to breastfeeding and the checks change with you.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding checks are part of Made for you with TrustPick Plus.