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 and healthy eating in pregnancy, including 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

Yes, health bodies do sometimes disagree. UK and US guidance does not always match on extra calorie advice during pregnancy, and caffeine advice during breastfeeding can differ too. Our rule is simple. We state the range, lead with the more cautious figure and never present one country's advice as though it applies everywhere. So when you see wording like "up to 200 mg of caffeine a day, though some US guidance allows around 300", that is the rule in practice.

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 doesn't replace supplements your doctor, dietitian or midwife recommends, and we say so.
• When evidence is thin, we say so. Traditional lactation foods are a good example. Rather than dressing them up with bigger claims than the evidence supports, we treat them honestly for what they may still offer, which is comfort, familiarity and nourishment.

Choices we make deliberately cautious

UK guidance allows runny eggs if they carry the British Lion stamp. Our readers cook across many countries, though, and egg-safety systems are not the same everywhere. So every egg used in our pregnancy recipes is fully cooked and the yolk is 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

If this site names a professional reviewer, that review is there to improve accuracy. It doesn't turn any page into medical advice, it doesn't create a clinician-patient relationship with that reviewer and it doesn't replace advice from your own doctor, midwife or dietitian. The scope shown next to a reviewer's name tells you exactly what they reviewed and nothing beyond that.

How the recipes were checked

In July 2026, every one of our 432 recipes on the site was reviewed against these sources for factual claims, nutrient tags, stage suitability, measurements and pregnancy food-safety rules. Copy that promised too much was rewritten, and tags that were not fully supported by the ingredients were corrected. We'd like to add an independent review by a registered dietitian at some point; if and when that happens, we already keep a list of specific questions ready for it, and the reviewer will be named here.