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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

"Banned" food

62 replies

GeorginaA · 25/09/2003 18:16

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

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

aloha · 26/09/2003 13:12

Julie F, you can eat stilton soup as the soup is cooked and the stilton is piping hot - listeria wont survive. The warning against soft cheeses is misleading.It's only rind ripened soft cheeses that are a problem (goats, brie, camembert) and soft cheeses made with unpasteurised milk that might pose a risk. Stuff like cream cheese, cottage cheese, processed cheeses etc are all fine. ALL hard cheeses are safe, even if unpasteurised (eg Goats cheese cheddar, parmesan) as Listeria can't survive without moisture. That's Food Standard's Agency advice, and I've also looked up the research on this, so I promise it's true. Luckily I don't like shellfish, but the advise is not to eat it unless it is piping hot.

Original poster

GeorginaA · 26/09/2003 13:42

sb34: thank you Not until end of May, still very early days yet, but I'm in a "I'm really rather excited" mode at the moment rather than a "Oh my god, what have we done" mode!

OP posts:

Original poster

GeorginaA · 26/09/2003 13:44

Oh, also worried about the nuts now, as I think I had some miniature snickers bars recently too - I just didn't think about it! Argh.

Does anyone else think they should have "suitable for pregnant women" labelling in supermarkets?!

OP posts:

twiglett · 26/09/2003 16:57

message withdrawn

Ghosty · 27/09/2003 02:35

robinw ... thank you for your advice (and so nicely written ... I thought someone might tell me off).
Of course you are totally right. I do have a friend whose son is allergic to nuts and she thinks it was due to what she ate in pregnancy ...
It has been so selfish of me ... As you say it is only a 1 or 2% chance but still there is a chance.
I will try to avoid it from now on (still got 18 weeks to go)
Thanks again
Georgina ... congrats on your pregnancy

robinw · 27/09/2003 06:46

message withdrawn

susanmt · 27/09/2003 22:30

I have a friend in Paris (I know, lucky me!) who went to the doc to say she was pregnant. He asked her if she was drinking and she said, yes, an occasional glass of wine, and he said, 'No, REAL drinking' ie spirits - as they assume in France that you will drink wine throughout the pregnancy! She also ate pate, soft cheese and had a real craving for gorgonzola. The advice is very different in other countries. I have avoided peanuts because of the allergy link (dh is asthmatic) and havent fancied cheese much, but have had an occasional slice of pate and certainly more than an occasional glass of wine (after the first 3 months when I couldn't face it). Have totally gone off coffee though!

marsup · 28/09/2003 14:53

I've seen pasteurised soft goat's cheese, so I assume that would be ok?? I did eat some, in fact when I first saw it I got so excited after 4 months without goat's cheese that I ate a whole cheese...could somebody reassure me that is ok please??!!

Have also just realised, reading this list, that I've been carefully avoiding peanuts and cooking stir-fry in groundnut oil.

...I don't like this guilt-trip business! Surely women in parts of Africa or Indonesia where peanuts are used in local cooking just continue to eat them? I asked my grandmother whether she was told not to eat certain things when pregnant and she laughed at me - there was a war on and she ate anything she could get.

...do you think that means I could eat a peanut-butter sandwich now?

WideWebWitch · 28/09/2003 16:10

Marsup, it's your call but I've been eating nuts and peanuts and peanut butter during this pregnancy. There is no history of allergies in my family and ds (now 6yo) first had peanuts at the age of about 2 IIRC. May have been younger, can't remember but anyway, he isn't allergic and for me the benefits of nuts outweighed the risk of trying them as he's vegetarian and I wanted him to have nuts in his diet if possible. In fact, I don't even think peanut butter was on the banned list when I was pregnant with him. I seem to think it's quite a recent addition.

lucy123 · 28/09/2003 16:57

I didn't know nuts were out! Oh well, its too late now anyway.

I would just like to say though that I think this banned list is getting ridiculous - and some of the evidence for banning items is tenuous to say the least. If eating nuts in pregnancy causes allergies, why is the rate of allergy going up? People don't really eat any more nuts now. It seems to me that scientists are failing to find a cause for something and so blaming pregnant women.

Its enough to make me want to go out and buy a packet of fags!

newgirl · 28/09/2003 18:11

this reminds me of when i was eating a mr whippy ice cream when very pregnant and a bloke came up to me and said i shouldn't be eating it because of the listeria. what a killjoy. i reckon that it is so pasteurised that it would be ok. he might have been right though. anyway, baby came out 10 pounds and all faculties so no harm done!

robinw · 29/09/2003 07:05

message withdrawn

Ghosty · 29/09/2003 08:14

This is a tough one isn't it?
I have just spent the afternoon with my friend whose little boy is allergic (needs and epipen) to nuts and I really felt for them both when the other friend whose house we were at was getting things out and the allergic DS couldn't eat any of it ... it really made me think. I asked her again if she thought it might have happened whilst pregnant and she said she didn't know, she couldn't be sure ... that she doesn't remember eating a great many nuts in pregnancy ...
Oh and her DS only had his first reaction at over 2 years old ...
I too think the list is ridiculous and all the risks are minimal BUT really I think that if I were to take the risks and then a) miscarry or b) my child were to have allergies ... how could I forgive myself? Knowing that I could have prevented it?
I think it is a matter of personal choice ... we are told the risks ... and it is up to us to use that information as we see fit ... so some us choose to limit everything for 9 months and some of us choose to limit some things and not others ... and some (but I don't think many) choose not to heed any of the advice at all ...
Such is life and personal choice ...

bluecow · 29/09/2003 12:38

Ref nuts, there was an article in a baby mag last year that said in the countries where they eat a lot of peanuts as part of their diet there is no higher number/increase of babies with peanut allergies. If there is any risk, it is slightly higher if very close relatives have allergies (siblings, parents etc). I ate peanuts during my first pregnancy and have been eating them during this. There was also a recent piece of research that said it is not peanuts that are the problem, but the peanut oils used in skin creams for children (interestingly, one of the Boots nipple creams says 'peanut oil free'. Allergies are a bit of a lottery. My brother has terrible asthma yet no one else in our family suffers from anything similar.

bluecow · 29/09/2003 12:38

Oops stray winky there.

pidge · 29/09/2003 13:19

RobinW ... in answer to your question about who tested me ... it was the allergy clinic at Addenbrookes in Cambridge, so you would IMAGINE they knew what they were on about. I've certainly never had a really bad reaction (problems breathing) or anything like that, just very very uncomfortable, with my throat and mouth coming up in lumps etc. Yuk. I might investigate this a bit further following what you've said though.

On the subject of risk in pregnancy - I totally agree with Ghosty. Personally I want to know what the risk foods are and then I can choose whether to eat them or not. I don't understand quite why nut allergy is such a problem in the Western World and not in places like Africa where they are a staple food. I'll consult with my scientist dp and see what he has to say on the subject.

I think the tough thing for women is to evaluate exactly what the risk is, so they can make a decision. But I definitely prefer to know, and I do think it's right that the authorities give us this information, even if it's a nuisance.

aloha · 29/09/2003 13:20

Soft goats cheese is fine if pasteurized, and hard goats cheese is fine even if not. So don't worry.
YOu don't actually have to deprive yourself of anything really in pregnancy. You can have pate, just not liver pate and not from the deli counter - tinned or pasteurised is fine. The advise is to avoid soft whipped ice cream from vans, but the stuff in the freezer cabinet is absolutely OK. Raw shellfish is usually best avoided, but hot, cooked seafood is fine.You should avoid swordfish and marlin but it's hard to imagine anyone feeling seriously deprived by that. Raw eggs are out, but all commercial mayonnaises in jars etc are fine. If you are a blue cheese or brie or camembert addict you are a bit stuck, but you can always have it very well cooked instead to get the taste (eg four cheeses pizza). It's not so bad really.

lucy123 · 29/09/2003 13:33

I don't know Aloha - I love my boiled/soft fried eggs (and I've had so many before remembering I'm not supposed to).

My objection to it all is related to what newgirl said I suppose. I hate the disaproving looks that I get if I either accidentally do something I shouldn't, or choose to do something that carries an infinitessimal risk (like drink a glass of wine).

Ghosty - you're right, it is about risk. But i can't help thinking about the risks of traffic pollution, everyday chemicals (which I do avoid), inactivity etc. which many people are exposed to and which are probably greater than that of eating soft cheese. I guess you need to come to your own conclusions about what are acceptable and unacceptable risks.

While we're on the subject (and just to show that I do worry about these things a bit! ) does coconut count as a nut?

pidge · 29/09/2003 13:42

lucy123 - my understanding is that a coconut is not a nut - certainly it's not like any other nut I know! Pine nuts are not a nut either - but then some people are allergic to them.

I personally am always scoffing various curries with coconut in. I can't imagine it's a problem.

Original poster

GeorginaA · 29/09/2003 15:48

My understanding that the lion mark on eggs was to show that they had come from chickens who had been innoculated against salmonella, so they wouldn't be any risk anyway (or very little risk)? Yes, here we go Lion Quality Code of Practice

Okay, so there's probably no such thing as no risk, but I go for the most ethically produced, lion marked egg I can find and runny yolks be damned...

What else are you going to dip your soldiers into?!

OP posts:

robinw · 30/09/2003 06:10

message withdrawn

Linnet · 01/10/2003 00:15

It's funny that pidge mentioned that Pine Nuts are not a nut but people are allergic to them. My dh comes out in a rash if he eats pesto. All we can put it down to is the pine nuts in the pesto. He can eat peanuts and all other nuts with no problem at all, it's just the pine nuts that bring him out in a rash, weird.

pidge · 01/10/2003 09:10

Linnet - could well be the pine nuts, though I think pesto also has cashews in it. I was just reading about a child who had a reaction to cashew nut butter. I'd previously thought that cashews were one of the least allergenic nuts, like almonds.

Also, though I'm sure this isn't the case if you're on super-market bought pesto ... I have been caught out TWICE now by posh pesto in restaurants made with walnuts in it.

Linnet · 01/10/2003 23:01

We were in a restaurant where we know the chef. When we saw her a few days later we mentioned the rash and how we could only put it down to the pesto. She said it must have been the pine nuts. Pesto isn't something that we ever buy it just happened to be part of the meal in the restaurant that night.

Dh has eaten cashews and has no problem with them. It's all very odd.

SofiaAmes · 02/10/2003 01:08

Did the meal involve sun-dried tomatoes? They often seemed to be coupled with pesto. They are usually dried with sulfites as a preservative. Many many people are allergic to sulfites (I get big asthma attack and stomach cramps/diarrea).

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