I didn’t realise Smoked salmon was off the menu but ate eggs royale

[Turtlequeen]

I am 18 weeks pregnant and had eggs royal for breakfast yesterday. The salmon had been frozen but wasn’t cooked. I have noticed that there’s advise not to eat smoked salmon if pregnant. This wasn’t the advice in my last pregnancy. What are the chances of getting listeria? What are the chances baby will get it without me knowing and what will be the consequences for the baby. Is there a way of finding out? Am I panicking for no reason or should I seek medical advice?

The chances are absolutely tiny, please do not worry.

I ate loads of smoked salmon in my pregnancy I didn’t even know it wasn’t a thing?

You'll be fine

Yesterday? You're fine. The chances were very low anyway.

I didn't avoid smoked salmon in pregnancy. I think the advice is not related to listeria, it's something else (which I forget now), but the risk is small. The greatest listeria risk is actually in contaminated raw veg - salad greens/lettuce/bean sprouts, and most women probably don't avoid those in pregnancy. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I'm super fussy but ate smoked salmon when pg. It was fine 8 years ago. Not sure if guidance has changed but tiny tiny chance anything could happen.

DW, I ate sushi regularly when pregnant. If fresh fish is off you know about it before you eat it.

You are panicking for no reason. The baby can't get listeria without you knowing. The baby can't get anything you don't already have.

The chances of them catching anything are, in any case, miniscule and there are plenty of countries where women eat sushi through pregnancy.

I was surprised to see the new advice on this too. It was fine during my last pregnancy 2 years ago but now seems to be a no no. I wouldn’t worry but you could always ring your midwife if you’re feeling concerned.

I had some the other day and am 18 weeks too. I had it loads with my previous pregnancy 2 years ago when it wasn't off the list. If you look at the numbers below it's tiny numbers.

"As of 30 June 2023, data from UKHSA investigations into outbreaks (and into single cases matching food isolates identified by WGS) have identified a total of 8 incidents linked to smoked fish between 2015 and June 2023 through microbiological evidence. Seven of these incidents were also linked to smoked fish epidemiologically through enhanced surveillance questionnaires (Table 1).
From 2015 to June 2023, there were a total of 31 cases linked to the 8 smoked fish incidents; with 8 deaths and 3 pregnancy-associated cases identified. Twenty-one of the 31 (68%) cases reported consumption of smoked fish. Incidents and cases of L. monocytogenes have continually been linked to smoked fish since 2015, resulting in a number of deaths and pregnancy-associated cases"

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/listeriosis-and-high-risk-groups/smoked-fish-and-risk-of-listeriosis-in-high-risk-groups-including-pregnancy-and-the-immunocompromised#:~:text=The%20UK%20Health%20Security%20Agency,advanced%20age%2C%20pregnant%20or%20immunocompromised.

Thankyou for the reassurance everyone. I was hoping this was the case.

I think of it this way: listeria is something that's bad for all humans. But I still happily eat rare steak, smoked salmon etc normally.

So why would I be abnormally paranoid about potential sources of infection that I usually take for granted are safe for me?

I don't eat the "listeria list" freely and without a care, but if I really fancy some, I have some - from a sanitary restaurant or supermarket.

It's different with things like Vitamin A, caffeine etc, where there's a proportional causal link that increases with the amount consumed.