Can someone explain the runny eggs thing to me?

[Fishpond]

I love love love runny eggs - French toast, soft boiled, sunny side up, I'm going all gooey-eyed thinking about it.

Why is it off-limits (along with bloody everything else?) in pregnancy and what is the actual % risk? I might ignore it sometimes if it's ridiculously low. Am I already a horrible mother?

Risks need to be taken as whole. The chance of catching listeria is ridculously small.
The biggest cause of salmonella and other bugs - bagged salads. Risk of picking up an infection, touching doors handles, entering hospitals and surgeries.

What is wrong with the bagged salads out of interest? I don't have a habit of eating many of them even when I am not pregnant.

I am assuming, now that I am pregnant, that if I fancy some salad that happens to be sold in a bag, it would be perfectly ok if I washed that salad myself under the kitchen tap?

they are a common souce of eColi ( and I think salmonella, but I may be wrong). Please don't stop eating salads though - my point is that tummy bugs are in many places and not the ones typically associated wiht them (i.e. eggs and cheeses).

The health advice given to women is rarely science-driven (I'm a scientist). Take the ridiculous advice on peanuts. This has now been withdrawn but for years pg woman stopped eating peanuts on a whim of someone.

I believe that it is sensible to wash all fruit and veg when pg (or not).

bullet as I university science librarian, I believe the risk in bagged salads is listeria and eColi, both of which cross the placenta barrier rather than salmonella. However the risk is still small.

The main sources of salmonella in the UK are imported eggs and chicken that has not been properly cooked.

The peanuts advice was never not to eat peanuts when preg. but that possibly women with a history of allergies, including hayfever, in their or the father's family may wish to refrain as some studies had shown it may be linked to an increase in allergies. Unfortunately any advice that is conditional seems to to be too complicated to be communicated effectively :(

Personally I'm more happy that advice on both blue and unpasteurised hard cheeses has been changed so I don't just have to feed my cheese habit with baked brie and stilton soup unlike last time.