Please tell me it’s ok! (Pregnancy / food related!)

[HermioneWaslib]

I’m pregnant and Mil has stuffed the meat with a stuffing containing liver. I know I can’t eat the liver but will it be ok to have the meat or will the juices have too much vitamin A in? It’s a rolled joint with stuffing in the middle so all the meat will have been close to stuffing.

*get enough

The advice in most other European countries is that products containing fat soluble vitamin A should only be eaten in moderation as at very high quantities they can cause problems with organ formation.

So, you then have to look at what 'in moderation' means. I would suggest that one meal with a little liver (not even as the main component) in the whole of your nine months of pregnancy is probably very moderate.

Or you can just avoid the stuffing. Either would be fine :)

Too much vit A is the issue.

I really don't think you need to worry if you are not eating the liver itself. A mouthful of liver wouldn't give you too much anyway, and you'll get less than that from the meat if you aren't actually eating the stuffing.

My midwife told me all the NHS guidelines to avoid things are about risk control. They don't know the exact amounts that cause harm, so recommend to avoid all together. The small amount you are talking about will be fine. As would a glass of bubbly if you wanted (which was her example).

Other things, such as brie, are because of an increased risk IF you were to get listeria. Not an increased risk OF getting it, just that it's more dangerous if you do. We are all free to measure that risk for ourselves. (Having never been ill from it before I think the risk is minimal myself so if I really really want it tomorrow, I may just do that.)

NHS advice is still just advice. Based on the most recent research, changes all the time!

You're understandably concerned, I totally get that. I would advise eating just a small amount of meat & avoiding the stuffing - you'll be fine. In the weeks prior to finding out I was pregnant, I'd eaten scallops, pate & had a few glasses of wine!

I’m pregnant, I would eat the meat but not the stuffing, not sure if that helps though!

I am not a doctor but my uncle is a consultant.

When my mother was pregnant with me, 36 years ago, he told her she’d have to eat liver multiple times a week and preferably uncooked for it to have an adverse effect.

He may have been exaggerating and I’m sure guidelines have changed, but one meal will honestly be fine.

You can absolutely eat the meat and the stuffing. The advice, as comprehensively put by Confusedbeetle already, is to ensure pregnant women aren’t shovelling in tonnes of vitamin A rich food. A Christmas dinner isn’t going to put you on vitamin A overdose. Enjoy it.

You shouldn’t have more than 5000iu of vitamin A a day.
28g chicken liver has 3700iu of vit a.

Mudmonster- thank you so much, that’s really clear. Thanks for everyone’s thoughts too! I actually can’t eat the stuffing for intolerance reasons (mil and I discussed this weeks ago) but relieved about the juices!