Eating prawns. Yes or no?

[Kayzr]

We're going out with MIL and DPs nan on Saturday. It's to a fish restaurant and I am really tempted by a prawn cocktail. The prawns will be cooked but cold.

I'm not sure if that's ok or not. Would you eat them or not risk it?

Thanks.

cooked shellfish is totally fine. enjoy.

The FSA advise against eating raw or undercooked shellfish such as oysters, mussels, cold prawns, crab, etc, as a general rule, and especially during pregnancy. However if the prawns have been well cooked and then stored correctly between cooking and serving then there should be no problem whatsoever. The problem is actually knowing if stringent food safety practice is being carried out by the specific restaurant. I go through phases were I am quite happy eating out, and then get all panicky about potential food safety problems. However, I think this is because I used to work in food safety and tend to take things to the Nth degree. :)

I used to work on the balance of probability.
What is it I am wanting to eat, have I ever been ill after eating it, do I know anyone that has been ill eating it, have I seen anything on the local news about anyone being ill eating where I'm eating.

I'd eat a prawn cocktail when pregnant from a fish restaurant, they make their living from fish so they know how to store it properly.

The risk when pregnant is almost always because of the risk of food poisoning not because of the item itself (except liver and liver products). I've only had food poisoning once in all my years of eating food from dodgy places here and abroad so I am quite easy going about these things.

If they are cooked, there's no reason why not to. I ate prawns out and got completely judged by friends, however. Obviously not being pregnant they knew better than me!!!

That sounds ok then. I know it'll drive me mad watching other people eat them.

Thanks.

I go with mrspnut's logic and eat prawns but not pate.

I would happily eat them cold, ie properly refrigerated in a salad or sandwich product. And I'd happily eat them in a hot dish.
The only way I'd bother avoiding them is in something like a chinese takeaway where they might no longer be properly hot through by the time you get them home.
That said, the idea of prawns is very unappealing to me at the moment, as is most hot food for that matter.

And I hate it when friends suddenly become pregnancy experts and think they can tell you what you shouldn't be eating.

kat But that doesn't make sense, a takeaway cooling on the way home does not lead to bacteria/toxins!

But I do agree with you that slush puppies are the way forward!

Fwiw, I accidentally ate raw prawns in my last pregnancy and was fine - tbh, I was more worried about Delhi belly and a serious illness. But these prawns came from a "posh supermarket", not a vat of lukewarm "brine" in a Bangkok street. Yes, I did prepare them myself - that's what pregnancy brain will do to someone.

I've always been a food poisoning temperature freak, regardless of pregnancy. As far as I'm concerned, it needs to be refrigerated to 5 degrees or cooked above 63 degrees. Inbetween is the "danger zone" where bacteria thrive. Hence my suspicion of takeaway special prawn chow mein. But I am like that anyway!

The only time I have ever had food poisoning from seafood was actually in a nice restaurant.

I ate prawns from our local Chinese and M&S when pregnant, but not from places I hadn't used before.
I have had full blown food poisoning from luck warm prawn soup in Mallorca. I wasn't PG and was still horrible.

I got my food poisoning from a ready meal bought from Asda.
I bought it on my way home from collecting DD1 from Brownies, cooked and ate it within half an hour of buying it but during the night started with food poisoning which lasted for a while.

I ate a Tesc prawn sandwich every day of my last pregnancy.

My logic was: I've been eating prawns about twice a week since I was a teenager and I've never had food poisoning from them, so why would it be more likely to happen now?

Food poisoning really is a bit of an unmeasurable thing. In fact, most people have had food poisoning without even realising that's what it is. The vast majority of cases are unreported. However, being pregnant can make us susceptible to more severe reactions. In saying that, none of us would ever eat again if we lost perspective and went completely OTT with it.

KatAndKit, I totally agree with you in regards to certain takeaway meals. As soon as cooked food is no longer subject to further processing, it is classified as "high risk". Slowly cooling food which is not eaten within a certain time limit is a reservoir for bacteria. That, unfortunately, is the nature of food. That's why I never eat reheated takeaway, or eat leftovers the next day . Of course, most of the time our bodies can deal with certain bacterial loads and everyone has varying resistance, but you never can tell......

oh no the thought of leftovers has me wanting cold curry, chicken biryani and nice dhal, but yesterdays please, will have to wait until the summer....

Of course there is an optimum temperature for bacterial growth. But assuming your takeaway was cooked to 'piping hot' it's ludicrous to suggest it would make a petri-dish shudder during the car ride home. If you're going about thinking that, you'd never eat in restaurants because your food would cool as you ate, or perhaps you eat with a timer. Take it off the hob and set the timer to 4 minutes? ;)

Oh I know you are right pone I am admittedly a bit paranoid about the food poisoning danger zone! I wouldn't have a prawn curry takeaway even when not pregnant. Especially if the not quite 63 degree prawns were king ones with evil lukewarm eyes threatening me! Urrghhh!! And you are right, in a restaurant it would cool down, especially a chinese when you tend to share the dishes. And I wouldn't worry in the first bit about eating it, it's just irrational takeaway madness. I can barely eat any hot food at the moment anyway, it's sandwiches all the bloody time. As soon as I get some hot food in front of me my stomach refuses it!

All this talk of prawns is making me hungry. Thinking of a nice prawn and avocado salad combo. Mmmm.

I definitely eat leftovers the next day. Chicken Chow Mein actually tastes nicer microwaved the next day.

Alpine, no one suggested that. If you read my comments again, you will see that I said once cooked food begins to cool and is not eaten within a certain time (i.e. it enters the Danger Zone and remains there for a sustained period of time), it is classified as "high risk". That is just a Food Science fact. However, most of the time we eat the food well before there is any risk to health.

Ha-ha "irrational take-away madness", I like that!

chineapple so are you saying that you leave food out for hours at a time at 37 degrees? That would be the ultimate temperature for breeding nasties. In which case, my question would be, why on earth are you doing that?

I've never had food poisioning after eating prawns so I think I might risk it.

No. Obviously I don't do that. I am merely dealing with the facts of food temperature, food handling, and food safety. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, most of the time we (in our personal homes), food premises, food handlers, food manufacturers, and restaurateurs, operate good food safety management systems and adhere to standard food hygiene practices. That is how we limit incidences of food contamination and food poisoning in our societies.