I want nice ham

[YesterdaysPants]

So, my favourite food ever is M and S Parma ham. I drool at the mere thought and can eat it daily for lunch, just a packet on its own. Mmmmm.

But I'm pg

Worth the risk? I'm pretty low on food which doesn't make me want to puke, and haven't managed much meat at all. If I could just eat a packet of Parma ham every 3 days or so, I might just survive. I also seem to suffer worse if my blood sugar gets out of whack, so a high protein lunch is what I need (please no suggestions of other meat, I'm likely to be sick on you)

TIA

what's wrong with Parma ham? Esp shop bought stuff?

I'm counting that as a vote for yes

Cured meat - raw basically - might have toxoplasmosis or such

NHS say no

I don't know if I'm being mad, but could you cook the parma ham as a compromise? Like if it was in a recipe?

I ate it!! And love it!! I thought it was liked smoked salmon, the curing process gets rid of all the nasties as it's not actually raw! Same as smoking salmon! Which I eat buckets of the stuff!!

Lol...I've been super naughty in both pregnancies! Ham, soft cheese, you name it I'll have had it! Obviously except alcohol! I glanced at the list of do' and don'ts with DC1, stuck to it for a few days then decided that I had NEVER been ill from food in my life so took a few risks! Mmm, I even had a little pate at Xmas!

Maybe you can make parma ham toasties- as long as the cheese is bubbling it will heat the meat up to cook it? Not sure how "safe" it would be, but NHS says parma ham is ok if cooked in a pizza so toasties are pretty close?

Another yes vote here. I love it too and dh (bless his cottons) bought me a large pack and a pack of felipe salami too.

I work on the principle that I'm prepared to assess risk and make my own decisions.

As such I eat dried ham, soft cheese, runny eggs etc etc. I'll even have a glass of wine most days. And a little extra one occasionally if I feel the urge

I have worked on the same basis for all 4 pgs. And three have turned out ok so far.

What do Italian pregnant ladies do? (Seeing as Parma ham and prosciutto etc are italian foods.)
It must be very difficult being told so much is bad for you or the baby.

I had it on a pizza last week. It was only the next day when someone asked if it was allowed that I really thought about it, whoops! This time I've eaten a fair amount of runny eggs as long as they've had the lion stamp...

They don't tell them that in Italy. Or France. They have very different 'rules'.

Ok, bear in mind these references are about 10yrs old, and I found them doing a random google search, so not a "proper" lit search, but based on those, it certainly looks like its not such a good idea to eat undercooked or cured meats.
Toxoplasmosis refs

Hey ladies, gosh, toxoplasmosis is my FAVOURITE pregnancy worry - am on preg no.3 and have just got back the results from yet another toxo blood test because I was pyscho paranoid that I'd eaten some dodgy undercooked meat earlier on in this pregnancy (just like my last 2 pregs!). Turns out its STILL NEGATIVE (i've never had it, even though me & my husband are 100% carnivores, when I'm not pregnant we eat everything "still moo-ing" and i LOVE cured etc meats). I really do think that the toxo risk is SOOOOO tiny now, I just can't believe i've eaten so much raw / cured / undercooked meat in my lifetime & never caught toxo. Yes, there is always a risk, but I now believe that risk must be tiny, if you're prepared to accept it, then go ahead & enjoy your parma ham!! (I also scoffed parma ham during my first preg, not realising it was a no-no - cue my 1st toxo pyscho freak out!!) .

Have to say tho, I have friends in Italy, France & Spain, and actually, they take the whole toxo risk VERY seriously, much more so than over here - you're tested for it monthly in France, and we went on hols to spain last wk & my spanish friend told me not to eat any salad in restuarants because you couldnt guarantee it had been washed properly & so might harbour toxo parasites from soil in the ground!!! I though this was slightly over the top, but because we were staying with them, I stuck to her rules.

Anyway, short of it is, all ladies on this forum are sensible women &, as buttonmoon78 quite rightly says, we can weigh up the risks & make our own minds up about what to eat & what to avoid. Interestingly, my GP told me (on my last visit requesting a blood test a few weeks ago!) that toxoplasmosis doesnt really exist in the UK food chain anymore... only really on the med, so if the meat is sourced from the UK, you're likely ok. Also, if the meat has been frozen beforehand, this can kill some / most of the parasite present in the meat....

Sorry, long waffly post!! x

Hello Yesterday,
I am Spanish and also a lover of Iberian Ham (better than Parma Ham by the way ;) )
If you have a good freezer you can freeze the ham at -20 degrees for a minimum of 3 days, the defrost in the fridge and you are ready for your treat!
As long as the ham is vacuum packed it actually freezes and defrosts really well, not sure whether it would work out so well if they are cutting it to order and therefore not vacuum packed.

Hope to have helped!

I seriously wouldn't worry about it. The Italian women I know well wouldn't even think of restricting their diet the way we worry about over here and they have gorgeous, healthy bambinos!

I ate parma ham, loads of cheese, rare steak, drank the odd glass of wine etc all the way through my pg and my dd was completely fine.

I figured since I work out doors (ground surveys), always played in mud as a child (and pretty sure I've munched a ton of the stuff by accident over the years), always had cats/kittens with 'potty training' issues AND love rare meats (including sushi, where beef is pretty much raw/soaked in mmm lovely sauce), I am pretty sure I have already been exposed/had toxoplasmosis, but for some reason I'm still paranoid about it!!!

I love Asturimama's advice I recall that because UK fish has to be frozen to kill off most nasty things, that's why we can eat it raw.... so I would say YES GO FOR IT!! I certainly will be

Please don't take the risk of toxoplasmosis too lightly - I am white, british, born to white, british parents and was born without eyesight in my left eye due to the toxoplasmosis infection. It's rare in the UK, but I am proof that it does happen and does exist.

Ok so I cracked, went to M and S on the way home and bought sone bresaeola there are no words for how tasty it was, I scoffed the whole packet! I'm sure M and S wouldn't stock food which could have evil diseases contained

Just read your warning words Fixit , I'm so sorry for your situation and as you say, it shows that toxo is a possibility in the UK. I'm more paranoid about actual deli produce and unwashed veg I think, that's my acceptable risk level anyway.

Italian and French women ARE told to avoid much of the same food as British women. Obviously like all of us then make their own decisions about what risks there really are, but it is a myth that it's somehow ok to eat soft cheeses, cured meats etc. in Europe. It's an individual decision, but the advice is not simply based on UK-based paranoia.

I eat it. I eat a lot of it. And I'm not going to stop :)

I have eaten it. My OH family is Italian, we were over there on holiday last week and the only things they told me not to eat was uncooked vegetables and strawberries! Nobody mentioned cheeses or meats, and they swore that it was fine to eat swordfish, despite it being very clear over here that you are not supposed to. Strange how different countries have different advice...