"Banned" food

[GeorginaA]

Even though ds is only 2 years old, I seem to have completely blanked out of my mind what you're allowed to eat when you're pregnant and what you're not.

Pate is out, isn't it? I seem to remember ignoring the "runny yolk in eggs" ban as I've never been ill from an egg ever, and I love fried and soft-boiled eggs (although I am careful and look for the lion mark more religiously now I'm pregnant).

Someone pointed out to me I couldn't eat creme caramel or mayonnaise as they both contain raw eggs. Is that right? (Says the person who REALLY would kill for a creme caramel right now...) Is it all mayonnaises that are "bad" or can I get away with helmanns?! I really can't face 9 months without mayonnaise drenched new potatoes... cry

Im sure Hellmans is OK because its made from pasturised egg. Whats wrong with a creme caramel, never heard that one before! Other people are better help than me on preg issies

Creme caramel is made with eggs but they are cooked ! And I would presume they are made with pasteurised eggs.

This topic has always amused me as - in Europe - only the Brits have such a restrictive list !

In many countries you can eat soft cheese, pate, eggs,... Personally I ate all but that's just me - I can't imagine doing it

Ooo yes, you're right! Thank you! Just checked the ingredients on hellmans and I'd never noticed that before - thank god for that!

Um, I think they're called creme caramel - recipe here

Actually, looking at it, it does look like the eggs are cooked, so it looks like I was given duff information. Okay, they're going on next week's shopping list then...

Also, it's just occurred to me the fresh mozarella I've just bought for a recipe is a soft cheese (argh, I'm really not good at this am I?!) If I cook it well, does that make it okay? Am assuming mozarella isn't pasturised? (can't see it saying pasturised on the packet...)

Hi GeorginaA, congratulations! There was a thread about feta cheese recently, which had lots of good info and another, eating shellfish which I seem to remember was helpful. Also there was Tuna, another No Go food? I couldn't remember any of it either. I had salmonella recently and while I wouldn't recommend it to anyone apparently it was unlikely to harm the baby so since then I've been eating soft eggs too. On that basis I'd say mayo is fine and IIRC the eggs are pasteurised anyway. Anyway, HTH

Oops pupuce, our messages crossed. Okay, is the verdict that I'm worrying unnecessarily then? (considers running into M&S tomorrow for chicken liver pate and creme caramels...)

Thanks for those WWW - they were helpful. I'm amazed at the differing advice from different countries though.

I'm assuming that cooked soft cheese would kill any potential listeria bugs, wouldn't it? (am salivating for this mozerella now...)

Yes, definitely. I remember aloha saying so and thinking oooh, I can have deep fried brie then, hoorah!

All commercial mayonnaises are fine - the bottling process makes them sterile which is why they can be stored outside the fridge. The only soft cheeses that really pose a risk are the ones with rinds - brie and camembert (even then the risk is very, very small) and soft goats cheese. Feta may be slightly more likely to be contaminated, but opinions vary. Mozarella is fine. All food cooked nice and hot is fine as Listeria won't survive cooking (deep fried brie, anyone?). Organic eggs are less likely to be contaminated than others IMO. If you are desperate for pate, you can eat the tinned variety, which is also sterile.

If cheese is NOT pasturised it will say so... rather than the other way around.... the vast majority of cheeses in this country ARE pastuerised.

Oh wow, deep fried brie! Or even better deep fried camembert with cranberry sauce...

Thank you both, you've made my night

I want deep fried camembert with cranberry sauce NOW too! So I'll lose the weight once this one's born...

When I went to my Gp yesterday to tell her I was pregnant she reminded me, as it's been 6 years, to avoid,

Runny eggs
liver
pate
raw meat
soft cheeses

and that was all she mentioned. I did wonder about the mozzarella though although I forgot to ask her about it. I see here though that I can eat it so that's fine.

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A little off topic but I have just got the menyu through for my firms Christmas lunch and I am a bit disgusted by it. There is nothing a pg woman can eat on the starters list (there will be 2 of us)

It consists of :

Pate
Fruit Salad in vodka
A stilton based soup
Something with satay (peanuts)

Should I complain and ask for something special for us even if its just the fruit salad without the alcohol?

Julie ... I would say something if I were you - what if you were a vegetarian teetotaller allergic to all dairy and nut products??

I got a severe telling off from my NZ mates and my NZ midwife a few weeks ago for eating ham. Bought vacuum packed (previously cooked) sandwich ham ... apparently a BIG no no in NZ as is all that type of meat (risk of listeria).
But in the UK it seems to be ok to eat???

Oh and once a week I do admit to having a teeny bit of peanut butter ... I just CANNOT go through 40 weeks without it and we have no history of allergies in either family so ... a weeeeeeeny smear with raspberry jam I guess is ok?

Will duck from the the tirade from those whose little ones have nasty allergies now ... sorry ...

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Ghosty - I ate ham in Rarotonga before I realised it was not recommended in NZ. I lived to tell the tale and so did ds, but I heard a similar tale from a friend who ate shell fish in Australia and it all went very wrong for her. I did give up peanuts, and still don't eat them cos I'm bfing, but I don't scan all packets for hidden peanut oil etc. Occasionally I wish I'd given up dairy when pg when I see ds in the middle of an eczema flare up, but then remind myself that I craved milk and icecream when pregnant. I've given it up now.
Now I've met my son I would give up anything for him, but I think its much harder to do when you are pregnant and the research changes mid pregnancy and from book to book and country to country.
Personally I missed Pate, and am still eating loads of it to make up for lost time.

GeorginaA - mozzarella is fine, it's runny cheeses that aren't.

Shellfish is out too BTW unless it is cooked - prawn curries are OK! I would love a Pret a Manger crayfish sandwich right now...

More info is here

Must take more note about the healthy eating. No mention of packets of pickled onion monster munch.

Does that mean by eating nuts in pg mean that your child is more likely to develop a nut allergy - or is it meant to invrease chances of m/c or abnormalities ? I only ask as when I was pg with DD I developed a serious craving for Brazil nuts. I ate shed loads of the stuff virtually every day in my last trimester. I remember asking my doc at the time about it and he seemed to think it is OK - or is it just peanuts that are a no-no? Incidentally DD is fine!

Metrobaby - the only specific nut ban I'm aware of is peanuts, and it is because if you eat them during pregnancy or when breastfeeding there is a slightly increased risk of your baby becoming allergic to them. The risk is small, particularly if you don't have an atopic history, but as robinw so rightly says, the consequences are so appalling I felt it was worth abiding by the rules on this one. Also I'm allergic to pecans and walnuts, so am higher risk anyway. I avoid all peanuts, but am probably not totally careful about scanning products for peanut oil. Also I have eaten other nuts that I'm ok with - like cashews and almonds. And when I was pregnant I developed an overwhelming craving for pistachios, which I ate by the ton for a month or so. Now hoping that wasn't a terrible thing to have done.

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Ooh sb34, how exciting about your sister - I've never met anyone else with JUST a walnut and pecan allergy and not other nuts. I guess it is rare. Mine isn't an anaphylactic reaction (thank goodness), though pretty unpleasant mouth and throat swelling all the same. I too intend to keep my daughter off all nuts until she's much older, if only because the advice in this area is so unclear. The only official advice talks about peanuts and nothing else. If I was sure that things like cashews and almonds were ok, I'd be happy to try her on them when she's a bit bigger, as nuts are so so healthy. As it is, I resisted last night putting the almonds into Annabel Karmel's carrot and courgette croquettes, and stuffed in some millet to make them a bit drier instead!

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sb34 ... yes, I did get it checked out. I too first noticed the allergy when I was in my teens and I was tested at hospital when I was a student. They said to me that the reaction was "not anaphylactic in nature", and that I should obviously avoid the nuts, but not to worry about it.

I've been exposed quite a few times - it's incredible where you'll find walnuts unexpectedly. Once I was fooled by a green salad in Spain, which had been dressed in walnut oil. Anyway, the reaction, though pretty unpleasant, lasts for a couple of hours and then goes and it doesn't seem to get worse with each exposure.

But thanks for your concern. And it does make me aware of how difficult it must be for people where the allergy is life-threatening.