Sources & editorial standards
Where our guidance comes from
Every nutrition claim and food-safety rule on this site is checked against publicly available guidance from national health bodies. This page names those sources, explains how we handle the places where they disagree, and sets out the rules our own writing follows.
The authorities we follow
- CDC (US) - breastfeeding nutrition, and folic acid.
- FDA / EPA (US) - which fish to enjoy and which to skip, based on mercury levels.
- ACOG (US) - nutrition in pregnancy, including trimester calorie guidance and key nutrient amounts.
- NHS (UK) - pregnancy food-safety specifics, including the foods to avoid in pregnancy and diet while breastfeeding.
- FSA (UK) - storage, chilling and reheating rules, including the rice storage rules.
- WHO - international reference values, including iodine in pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Behind these sit the technical sources we lean on for specific questions: EFSA reference values, NIH fact sheets, Cochrane systematic reviews, and the LactMed database for anything that passes into breast milk.
When authorities disagree
They sometimes do. The UK and US give different extra-calorie guidance for pregnancy; caffeine limits while breastfeeding differ between the NHS and the CDC. Our rule is simple: we state the range and lead with the stricter number, and we never present one country's rule as a universal fact. When you see "up to 200 mg of caffeine a day (some US guidance allows around 300)", that is this rule at work.
How we word claims
- Nutrition claims stay hedged: foods are "linked to", "studied for" or "a source of" - never "proven to", and nothing here "boosts", "cures" or "prevents" anything.
- Food supports a healthy plan; it does not replace supplements your doctor or midwife recommends, and we say so.
- Where the evidence is thin - classic "lactation foods" are a good example - we tell you it is thin, and enjoy the tradition for what it genuinely offers: nourishment and comfort.
Choices we make deliberately cautious
UK guidance permits runny eggs carrying the British Lion stamp. Because our readers cook in many countries with different egg-safety schemes, every egg in our pregnancy recipes is fully cooked, yolks set. It is a simpler rule that is safe everywhere, and we apply it consistently. Postpartum recipes celebrate the return of runny yolks with equal enthusiasm.
What professional review means here
Where this site names a professional reviewer, that review improves accuracy - it does not turn any page into medical advice, it creates no clinician-patient relationship with any reviewer, and it never replaces the advice of your own doctor, midwife or dietitian. The scope shown next to a reviewer's name is exactly what they reviewed, nothing more.
How the recipes were checked
In July 2026 every one of our 432 recipes was reviewed against these sources: factual claims, nutrient tags, stage suitability, measurements and the pregnancy food-safety rules. Copy that overpromised was rewritten; tags that were not genuinely earned by the ingredients were corrected. An independent review by a registered dietitian is planned as the next stage, with a queue of specific questions already prepared for it.