Prosciutto

[Minione]

Is it ok to eat prosciutto when pregnant?

well, it's raw and has been dead for months... maybe a listeria risk. Having said that, I HAVE
been eating it now again.....

I think you are not meant too but I have had some on several occasions and am absolutely fine!
I don't really beleive in the forbidden food nonsense during pregnancy (appart from the obvious like raw eggs or dodgy provenance food)...but that's my personal opinion.

I am not sure what official advice would be, but they'd say prob best to be safe than sorry.

I did though - I had to go with my cravings mostly!

Hmmm, that's what i thought. Don't think I'll chance it.

Thanks Ladies

i never thought of that, ive been eating it loads.

In Italy you are advised to not eat prosciutto crudo (like Parma Ham) if you aren't immune for Toxoplasmosis.
Otherwise it is fine.

Interesting, zahara1, I have been generally following the 'forbidden foods' guidance EXCEPT for runny eggs, which I consider nonsense.

I get that the risk of listeria and toxoplasmosis is very small, but it's raised during pregnancy and if you get it it can cause birth defects. So I'm happy not to take the risk with my baby's health (although I'm not stressing about the stuff I ate before I realised I wasn't supposed to!).

Eggs on the other hand... again a small but increased risk of getting salmonella but (if what I've been reading is correct) getting it poses no risk to foetus, I'll just be ill. I'm quite happy to eat scrambled eggs (my favourite!) and take the risk if it's only me I'm worrying about.

But basically I think all the risks are being very small, so I don't think it's worth anyone stressing over.

FWIW, I think prosciutto, parma ham, salami etc are all right if they're cooked/heated (i.e. on a pizza if the ham goes on before it's in the oven, not if it is draped over after)

...also I haven't unduly stressed about washing fruit and veg either, which I hear you're supposed to. Has anyone else? I am generally far too lazy to wash them unless I can see actual ick on them.

I was also lazy about that... and got toxoplasmosis. Baby was fine but it does happen.

However I ignore everything else, and still don't bother washing veg since i'm now immune :)

Debka - did you really get toxoplasmosis from fruit and veg? How do you know you got it from that? Did you have symptoms?

Getting toxoplasmosis is one of my anxieties. I wash almost every bit of salad I eat, even if it's been spring washed by supermarket, but I haven't washed every apple etc that comes in a bag

Thanks for all the advice - is chorizo ok? I'm sounding like a cold meat nut!!

I'd say chorizo is like salame, so a risk if you aren't immune to toxoplasomosis.

I had my first child in Italy, where they are quite obsessed by toxoplasmosis (that's because we do eat lots of raw meat), but not bothered about listeria, for instance.

I always wash fruit and vegetables, they are full of chemicals and have been handled by so many hands...

I actually contacted the Food Standards Agency (FSA) about this as I thought the info out there was so conflicting they wrote back saying "The FSA advises that cold cured meats such as salami and parma harm and ready to eat sausages such as chorizo and peperoni are fine to consume whilst pregnant due to the way that they are processed. There are varieties of sausage that are on the market that require cooking in which case you should ensure that all food is cooked thoroughly until steaming hot throughout reaching an internal temperature of 70 C for at least 2 minutes. Some countries advise pregnant women not to eat cold meats or smoked fish because of the risk of listeria. In the UK we don't advise women to avoid these products because the risk is very low" Hope that helps.

Thank you!! There does seem to be a lot of conflicting advice about this.

Dammit! Wish I had known that! I have been a bit lax about some of the food rules (still been eating runny eggs along the same principles as ecuse) but have avoided parma ham like a good girl because of the listeria/toxoplasmosis risk. But I love it and have really been craving it! Might send DH for some tonight now I've read this...just wish the same was true of brie (sigh)

Thank you votepedro for that official info. I have been upset by missing out of salami and chorizo as well as all my favourite cheeses and am happy that I have found something I love that I can still eat!

Ecuse, I agree with you re-eggs. I have been eating runny eggs too. I only meant that its probably better to stay away from raw eggs (like in homemade choc mousses for example).
Other than that I have been eating cured meat (no raw like steak tartare though) and have been washing my vegetables and fruits.

I don't think our mothers had anywhere near as many guidelines regarding food and I have never heard that there were higher levels of listeria or salmonella.

I love parma ham and other cured meats sob I don't tend to eat it in pregnancy though, because of the risks. I knew about listeria but the toxoplasmosis is a new one for me. I know I'm not immune as I got screened for it for some reason I can't recall a few years back. Of course, I might have had it since, but..

I found this on the NHS website:

www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1107.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=137

Lots of nice percentages to help quantify the risk. I like percentages

oh dear, i had no idea there was any question mark over parma ham and am just back from a blissful three days in Venice where i scoffed it with melon every day .
with my first pregnancy i never really worried about avoiding brie, pate etc but a friend of a colleague lost a pregnancy at 20 weeks due to listeria linked to cheese and that scared me enough to put me off.

I'm in France, and like Italy we're tested for toxoplasmosis, which I'm not immune to, so I've been told to avoid undercooked meat and to wash fruit & veg, which is a real bore. I've also been advised to avoid cured meats, inc chorizo and cured hams for the risk to listeria, but I'm allowed to eat any cheese as long as its made from pasteurised milk. I've been going with anything cooked is ok, like ham on pizza for example, but I'm gagging for a nice rare steak. Only 10 weeks to go...

Lurcher - you can eat brief... if it is pasterized which in this country, it mostly is. To be absolutely 100% safe, buy it from a reputable supermarket like waitrose, from the cheese counter, and ask first.

Brie from your favourite cheese deli-type place is more likely to be unpasterized and certainly will not have been kept in th ekind of sterile conditions Waitrose needs to (sadly, that's what makes it nicer, but I imagine a bit of regular brie from Waitrose is still better than no brie at all...?)

I was told this by my gynae. She said that technically, you could even eat blue cheese if it had been pasterized but ....

actually Blingloving...brie is a cheese with a white rind which despite being pasteurised you're meant to avoid...mould ripened rinds. Let me see if i can find a link for you...

from the FSA website:

Some types of cheese
Avoid cheeses such as Camembert, Brie or chevre (a type of goats' cheese), or others that have a similar rind. You should also avoid soft blue cheeses.

These cheeses are made with mould and they can contain listeria, a type of bacteria that could harm your unborn baby.

Find out more about listeria

sorry that wasnt me telling you to find out more about listeria like a lecturing old nag!! it was at the bottom of the quotation...

That's what I thought coraltoes - that you couldn't eat brie even if it was pasteurised because there could still be listeria in it.

Confusing when you're allowed parmesan, even though it's unpasteurised...

That's interesting, I have been avoiding all unpasteurised products including Parmesan, Grueyere though I crave for them.. Am I allowed to eat hard cheese even they are not pasteurised milk? Must confess I had no clue about cured meats, have tucking away chorizo and proscuitto for lunch every other day...