Agh! Is it safe to eat...

[mrsroboto]

Bought a Pret chicken salad around 12.00 today to take to work tomorrow. 12 hours later at midnight I realise DH didn't put it in the fridge so it's been sat at room temp all day. Should I eat it or bin it? I'm 8 weeks' pregnant.

So annoyed!

I know of a woman who lost her baby because she went for high tea at a fancy hotel and had some cream. This was only two years ago.

Bollocks, justabout. The two events are not connected in any way.

Don't eat it, OP. And congrats :)

Go on then justabout enlighten us. What official guidelines say pregnant women should avoid cream and how cream causes a miscarriage

Petal, try google. You need to understand what the problem is and when rather than just blanket banning chicken in pregnancy. And potentially influencing other uninformed people. Please learn why.

I'm Aware of the issue - just can't remember the name. It's a specific bacteria that's present in a lot of chicken and therefore the chicken needs to be treated properly.
Just googled and it's campylobacter - present in 3/4 of supermarket chicken.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't eat chicken at all but I felt safest when I knew exactly how it had been prepared and cooked. Tommys have very specific guidance on how chicken should be prepared, www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/im-pregnant/nutrition-pregnancy/campylobactor-and-pregnancy
And I just wasn't prepared to take the risk when I couldn't see how it was prepared, whether it had been left out of the fridge etc.
I think that's a reasonable choice to make. Your comment on the other hand is very rude and ignorant so perhaps you should try being a better person

Tommys have very specific guidance on how chicken should be prepared

That's not 'special' ways- that's basic food hygiene that everyone should be using regardless of whether they are pregnant or not.

The problem is that with chicken there's a specific bug so if you mess up on preparing that you're more likely to get ill.
I also avoided salad out due to risk of toxoplasmosis if it hadn't been washed

Cook chicken thoroughly, don't wash beforehand, wash hands after handling ( same as any meat) you'd have to be totally incompetent on the kitchen to mess up cooking a chicken.

There's also the storage issues as well, making sure it's well chilled etc. To be safest you wouldn't eat out at all, but that's not really practical is it?

Petal, there is no issue. But chicken, store in fridge, wash hands and utensils well after handling and cook well. Don't leave it sitting in a warm room for hours. How often have you or anyone you know been sick from chicken that was handled properly? There really is no risk.

Chicken is an excellent source of protein for pregnant mums.

If properly prepared chicken is being cut out surely nearly all food needs to be cut out.

Just don't mess with chicken it has a really low out of the fridge time as I call it - something like 30 minutes before bacteria can become dangerous on raw chicken. Cooked nearly as bad - it might be sealed etc BUT there is still the issue of where it has been and some of the bacteria are naturally on chicken in particular salmonella

I'm sympathetic to avoiding supermarket chicken as the Guardian did an expose on the disgusting conditions it's handled in, re campylobacter:

www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/23/-sp-food-poisoning-scandal-how-chicken-spreads-campylobacter

I must admit though I was outraged at the time and made a mental note to avoid whichever supermarkets it turned out to be - which I don't think were ever released, so I forgot and carried on as normal. Organic chicken isn't any lower risk, either. However from the report it looks like good hygiene and cooking practices will minimise any risk so I feel a bit safer (not going to eat that salad, btw).

(the above link is one of many - here's a fuller article from the time www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/23/-sp-revealed-dirty-secret-uk-poultry-industry-chicken-campylobacter )

Not to get too hung up on it, but worth bearing in mind.

I know of a woman who lost her baby because she went for high tea at a fancy hotel and had some cream. This was only two years ago.

WTF?? Who knew that cream was an abortifacient? All those poor women forced to endanger their lives through backstreet abortions when really, all they had to do was have a cream tea??

Congrats, OP. I'd bin that chicken. or let your husband eat it

No I wouldn't eat it not only becuase I am pregnant but chicken that's been sitting around all day & no doubt now soggy salad just wouldn't appeal to me.

justabout Cream is safe in pregnancy and anyone with a brain knows a miscarriage isn't going to happen if you eat cream at an afternoon tea.

I'm happy to be corrected on this but it is my understanding that campylobacter infection, although very very unpleasant, is unlikely to have an impact on the foetus. I believe that it's listeriosis and toxoplasmosis which are associated with miscarriage or birth defects.

In OP's case the chicken will have been thoroughly cooked so there should be little risk of campylobacter poisoning. I would be more concerned about listeria, especially if the dressing is mayonnaisey.

No need to worry about listeria either as Pret state on their website that they only use pastuerised eggs. (Although this is academic as I think we're all in agreement that it was left out too long for OP to eat!)

I fancy an egg mayo sandwich now!

I'm off the sniff it and see team, rather than following dates but with chicken I take no risks, pregnant or not. And then to add in a creamy dressing....

Chances are no risk to the foetus but could be some very unpleasant days for you.

Bin it

The eggs aren't my concern, peach. As you say, the mayonnaise is made from pasteurised eggs and they in turn probably came from hens vaccinated against salmonella.

My point was rather that if any listeria bacteria were present from another source in the packet then the mayonnaise would provide the perfect moist breeding ground at warm room temperature.

@Leanne Oh I see! Sorry, misunderstood your post. :)

I wasn't clear

I just figured repeated vomiting could be bad, dehydration etc. But yes toxo and listeria more direct risks. Although thankfully listeria poisoning very rare