Another food panic from me..

[Whysoserious]

I am finding it really hard to know what to/ not to eat while pregnant (I've seen the NHs list but it's when I'm out and about that I panic about things and what their ingredients are).

Anyhoo have today eaten a fresh choc chip cookie from Tesco (one of the ones where you get 5 in a bag.) it was quite squidgy/ soft in the middle and am now panicking that I shouldn't have eaten it due to the whole avoid cookie dough thing.

Am I being ridiculous yet again? Should I relax a bit more and loosen up? Or should I panic that I have potentially damaged by 7 week old embryo?

I would say calm down most of the warnings relate to the possibility of food poisoning...there isnt really a lot of reason why a squidgy cookie would pose any more of a risk for that than normal. Some things not on the list could equally also cause it. If you worry about it too much you won't be able to eat anything!!

A biscuit?! Really?!

It's going to be a really long 9 months if you stress over absolutely everything edible. Whilst I'm not advising ignoring all advise - most of its there for a good reason but there needs to be a bit more rationality over thought processes!

Really don't worry about that, not eating cookie dough would be because of raw eggs I assume, so even if it was a bit squishy in the middle it would still be cooked. Try not to worry about all the foods or it will make your pregnancy very long and not much fun. I hope you enjoyed the cookie!

Yes you are being ridiculous. Avoid unpasturised dairy products, mould ripened cheeses, any liver based like pate, raw shellfish and excessive booze. Everything else is fair game imo.

Some people are also funny about sushi and bagged salad so if you're very cautious then add those too.

I really fancy some pate on toast....

raw dairy and shellfish/pate from a good source is fair game for me too. I have only had food poisoning once - from pasteurised cheese from a supermarket. I think it's more where it comes from than what it actually is.

The liver thing is more of a reaction to pregnant women being advised to eat it, so they totally overdid it. A normal amount will be fine.

please don't worry

it's not the raw egg/whatever that "damages" the baby, it's that you MIGHT contract a certain, very rare, type of food poisoning from raw egg. And that food poisoning can harm the baby. IF you contract it.

bear in mind that UK eggs are pasteurized in any case, so you actually have less than nothing to worry about.

if you were in the US where unpasteurized eggs are available (afaik), then you would have something very small to worry about...

chances are the cookie you had was made with dried powdered egg in any case

lol. Ur gonna wear urself out, if you're this bad now what will U b like after baby born? Just take it easy.

Stilton is fine, by the way. The NHS say so. I've just scoffed half a packet of water biscuits with some Colston Bassett.

If someone had tried to wrestle those squidgy cookies out of my chubby hands in my first trimester there would have been fucking trouble, I tells ye.

UK eggs aren't routinely pasteurised?

Uk eggs sold as eggs not powder aren't pasteurised no. If you want pasteurised you can buy it in a carton for cooking but really, life is too short. The chances of getting salmonella are tiny.

I might just have some pate. Too much vit A is bad but a little bit is ok I think.

I remember in my first pregnancy looking for a book (before I knew better) and putting the one with half an inch thick section of banned foods back. I bought the one with barely half a page. NHS guidelines are now even shorter I think.

Common sense is all you need. DS was made from M&S prawn mayo sandwiches, dirty egg mayonnaise and sausage sandwiches, cheap white bread plasticy cheese, hula hoops and fruity rainbow ice lollies. He's fine

sorry i was wrong -- i read something in a Nigella Lawson cookbook ages ago and in fact it was about the Lion Mark: www.lioneggs.co.uk/page/lionmark (not pasteurization)

what she actually said was that all laying hens used for Lion Mark eggs have been vaccinated against salmonella. and these eggs account for 85% of eggs sold in UK

apologies op

you still needn't freak out though!

Just checked - sushi is fine in pregnancy! Hurrah!

Had a medium steak yesterday . went mental over these things in my first pregnancy but an more relaxed this time. Don't go mad over a biscuit!