Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Since when couldn't you eat ham whilst pregnant?????

31 replies

Ghosty · 21/08/2003 05:51

I have just had a friend round for lunch who looked at me in horror as I tucked into a ham sandwich. She said that you can't eat ham! I am sure I ate ham when pg with DS (in the UK) but apparently here (NZ) it is a big no no ... risk of listeriosis and toxoplasmosis blah blah! I know about things like salami and pastrami (because they are cured not cooked) but I thought ham was cooked????
She then told me a story about a friend of hers who lost a baby at 5 months pregnant due to getting listeria from ham ................
Oh God ...... I have been eating ham sandwiches nearly every day since I found out I was pregnant ... I have cravings for ham and mustard (normally hate mustard) ... and as most other things make me feel sick then why can't I have a blinking ham sarnie?????
Next question ... is listeria one of those things that you (the mother) feel sick with or do you get it and not know that you have it and so has my ham eating been damaging my baby??
Aaaaaaggggghhhhh ... I so want this baby but I hate being pregnant and always worrying and feeling sick and not being able to eat stuff and ... and .... and .... Oh bum!
sorry

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

fio2 · 21/08/2003 06:55

Ghosty I wouldnt worry about it too much. I have never heard of not eating ham either, sorry-maybe the others will know more I think ham was one of the only things I could stomach when pregnant with my dd too

myersthecat · 21/08/2003 07:04

I've not heard of this either. Are you sure she's not referring to something like Parma Ham ? That's cured, not cooked.

eidsvold · 21/08/2003 07:17

i thought like myers the cat that it was things like parma ham that was just cured - as long as it was cooked you were fine.

Original poster

Ghosty · 21/08/2003 07:34

The vacuum packed lunch ham you buy at the supermarket ... what about that? That is cooked isn't it??
Such a relief to know that I am not the only one who has never heard of this ... They seem very strict in NZ ...

OP posts:

zebra · 21/08/2003 07:52

Hey Ghosty -- if you have listeria you'd know it. It's very much like food poisoning in symptoms. Your friend is mistaken; it's precooked ham that poses a risk, here's a relevant New Zealand link .

Original poster

Ghosty · 21/08/2003 08:20

Thanks for that link zebra ... but it means that my friend is right . The vacuum packed ham you buy in the supermarket is pre cooked isn't it? But there were never any warnings like that when I was pregnant with DS in the UK. Oh well ... another thing to give up

OP posts:

StripyMouse · 21/08/2003 08:41

What a bummer! Thanks for drawing our attention to this one Ghosty. Like many, I love ham sandwiches and have virtuously eaten them rather than choose seafood, shop bought salady ones, parma ham, peanut butter etc. etc. I am now going to live on bacon and tomato sandwiches exclusively then (unless someone out there is going to tell me that tomatoes are bad for me?!!)

Two points though thanks to zebra?s link - we can still eat tinned ham I believe (although why tinning them is better than vacuum packing it is beyond me) - if I have got this wrong please someone let me know before I spend a fortune!
As zebra said - listeria can make you feel really really bad (I know as I have had it and it is not like a mild tummy bug - high temp, rolling around with awful stomach cramps, dehydration etc. etc. - bad enough to get doctor in...luckily it was a few years ago when not pregnant) However, not everyone suffers badly from listeriosis so if you do get a mild tummy bug with flu like symptoms (high temp, feel unwell...) it is still worth getting your doctor to check it out to be on the safe side.

Worth pointing out that listeriosis is fairly rare and not all pregnant women who catch this bug lose their baby so I don?t think listeriosis should become a source of real worry - maybe just "informed concern" . IMHO we should take sensible food precautions and then worry about something else like the colour of the walls in the nursery

eefs · 21/08/2003 09:13

another food to add to the list! thanks Ghosty.
What about cooking your own ham? That would be ok right?

aloha · 21/08/2003 09:19

I am absolutely sure that supermarket ham is fine. Both the NCT and the UK Government Food Standards Agency actively recommends it as part of the diet for pregnant women as it is a good source of iron. There have been some worries about toxoplasmosis associated with cured meats (raw - like salami and parma ham) and food left lying about for ages under lights in sandwich shops, but if you buy normal ham from the supermarket and eat it within the sell by date then there is no reason to associate it with listeria. I would definitely eat ham, personally.

aloha · 21/08/2003 09:20

Oh, the difference between tinning and other forms of packaging is that everything in a tin is completely sterile. You can eat pate out of a tin, provided you don't guzzled down tons of liver pate and overdo the vitamin A!

wobblymum · 21/08/2003 09:45

Food in tins is cooked in the tin (apart from fruit obviously) so when you open the tin, that's the first chance germs get to be on the food. So tinned ham should be ok but I wouldn't eat some then leave the rest lying around for ages.

Prepacked cooked ham should be fine. I've never heard of any UK advice against it and when I was pg ham sandwiches were one of the very few things I'd eat. And I ate them all the time when I was breastfeeding because they were so quick to make. And I've always eaten them and never got listeria. I think you need to be careful about obvious risks like cured ham, raw pate etc etc but not be so careful that you end up eating hardly anything and not getting enough nutrition.

WideWebWitch · 21/08/2003 09:53

Blimey, yet another thing? This is getting ridiculous.

bunnyrabbit · 21/08/2003 10:49

All that I've read also assures that pre-cooked packaged meats are OK. I believe it's the pre-cooked meats that you buy from the delicatessen that are a no-no because of the risk of contamination, and you don't kow how long they've need there.

bunnyrabbit · 21/08/2003 10:51

Been there even..

SamboM · 21/08/2003 10:53

Oh my god can you get ham in a tin? Sounds hideous!

karenanne · 21/08/2003 10:58

i agree bunnyrabbit my midwife said to steer clear of anything from deli/deli counter but anything prepacked is ok.
going off topic slightly was very pleased at the weekend to eat a mcflurry ..hate the facy cant eat soft whip ice cream when pregnant but midwife also told me these are ok.apparently its due to the fact mcdonalds keep there machines very clean whereas ice cream vans cant clean their machines so well.

myersthecat · 21/08/2003 11:24

Yes, but I've heard what's supposed to go in their milkshakes....not sure I'd trust their ice cream!

Hayls · 21/08/2003 11:44

Afraid I'm with myersthecat here! I was told categorically not to eat MCDonalds ice cream, which didn't bother me too much after hearing horrible stories about what goes in their food (yes, including the milkshakes...ugh.) On the subject of ham, afraid I'm not sure about this. Like lots of others, I have eaten lots of ham and as I type I'm eating a sandwich with vacuum packed pre-cooked turkey- should I be? REally hope it's Ok as I love the stuff.

zebra · 21/08/2003 12:03

Ah, Ghosty -- You mean a whole vaccuum packed ham in the supermarket is unsafe? That's the only thing I can think of that would be uncooked/raw meat/"precooked". Of course you'd cook it yourself, wouldn't you??? Once cooked (properly), it's safe, n'est-ce pas?

I usually only buy sliced ham, so hadn't thought about the other type.

Boe · 21/08/2003 16:02

I worked in a McDonalds for 2 weeks and I most certainly would not call anything they do clean - we were wading about in sewage at one point from the drains overflowing and they asked me to scrape mould off of a batch of particularly green breakfast muffins.

Went back to try McDonalds and had Nuggets and had bacterial food poisoning (was in Barkingside though!!)

As for the ham thing I ate it all the way through my pregnancy - rolled it up and popped it in, did not even bother about the bread or mustard!!

motherinferior · 21/08/2003 16:34

All I can say is that the first post-natal pig-out on Forbidden Food is really rather glorious...deferred gratification and all that? OK, no help at all, I'll just get back to the joys of small babies then while you lot get a bit of SLEEP!

bunnyrabbit · 21/08/2003 19:19

Thanks for that Motherinferior!!

Personally, I'm so looking forward to eating chopped liver pate I drool at the thought.

Original poster

Ghosty · 21/08/2003 21:22

Me too bunnyrabbit ...
Zebra ... I DO mean the prepacked vacuum packed SLICED ham ... the stuff you have in the fridge and make a nice ham and mustard sarnie when you are feeling a bit peckish ... THAT is what they say you can't eat here in NZ ... the ordinary sliced precooked sandwich ham .... from the supermarket (NOT the deli) ...
Glad to know that it is an NZ panic ... not a world wide one ...
Hayls ... from what I have found out in NZ I am afraid your turkey would be off limits too
WWW is completely right ... it is ridiculous ... I am down to boring old cheese now ... it is just too much ...
But how can I look a ham sandwich in the face now? If I were to get listeria I would never be able to forgive myself ...

OP posts:

aloha · 21/08/2003 21:27

Ghosty, honest, the Food Standards Agency and the NCT in the UK postively urge pregnant women to eat ham because it is a good source of lean protein and iron. I've done a big seach and can't find a single case of anyone ever having problems through eating supermarket ham. I always buy Sainsbury's organic ham but honestly wouldn't think twice about eating while pregnant.

Original poster

Ghosty · 21/08/2003 21:30

Thanks for that aloha ... I think I am going to print this out and show it to my friend ... and to my MW ...!

OP posts:

Flip

1 2