Meat panic!

[Whysoserious]

Been out for a meal tonight and ordered steak well done. I had to send it back once because was a bit pink. When I got it back again I cut into it and it was brown all the way through so happily ate it and chatted away. As I got to the end of it I looked down and saw that it was pink and I had been eating a pink bit.

I may be tired and emotional as have stayed out rather late on friends bday night out but now I'm really worried about it. I was so careful and ordered well done as well :-(

Oh god I've scared myself reading about toxoplasmosis and now I can't sleep

The chances of getting toxoplasmosis from meat are v v slim from what I understand. ESP if it's only a tiny bit pink. Please don't panic. And remember, the people who post about stuff like that generally have some kind of agenda anyway (wimmin being too feeble of brain to comprehend risks and so must be terrified into submission type of thing) that really, they are not to be believed anyway.

You'll be fine!! It's incredibly rare.

Thanks ladies. I feel really worried about it. I'm away from home and DH and it's making things seem 10 times worse I think.

I'm so annoyed with myself that I didn't keep checking it. I really hope I didn't eat too much pink meat

Don't worry why. I had a similar thing last week with a burger when I realised towards the end that mine was medium and my huband had been eating the well done burger I'd ordered... The chances of catching anything are ridiculously minute. The best thing you can do now, given that it's done, is forget about it!

Keep away from Google and think about other things like names and what colour to paint the nursery... Oooh, and get some sleep if you can. Being tired makes everything seem a million times worse (and more emotional if you're anything like me) and from the time of your posts you must be exhausted!

As I understand it, rare steak isn't really a risk so long as the outside i well cooked. It's when meat has been minced/chopped (so burgers, sausages etc) that is risky if not cooked thoroughly.

Thanks ladies. You've made me feel a lot better. I was away from home, in a really uncomfy bed with lots of people having a great time getting drunk etc ( and I had a great time too but never quite as fun being the sober one). Couldnt sleep and just lay there worrying.

You've made me feel a lot better during those dark pregnancy times when you start to worry about everything and can't stop googling. Thank you

I ate rare steak when pregnant, craved it! As long as the outside is properly seared and the meat is good, you're fine. I ate Parma ham regularly too. And soft eggs. and wine If you're fine, baby is fine

I had very pink beef in the week as I understood as long as the outside was cooked and brown then it's fine. :)

Definitely step away from google though!!

I thought the advice was to avoid rare but that medium is ok, so a bit of pink is fine. I think they've changed the guidelines about it just being seared and brown on the outside though the bastards

Well yes Horrace, well done steak is definitely against my religion and it pained me when I sent it back to be done more. It looked so nice and juicy and all the people around me had beautiful rare steaks. It was a difficult time

Thank you very much for the reassurance ladies

have you ever had:
direct contact with cat feces?
handled a bloodied wild bird or their feces?
done lots of gardening with bare hands, including much contact with soil?
Eaten quite rare-cooked meat?
Drunk unpasteurised milk?

Those are quite common ways to get toxopl, which would mean you were already immune (you can't get it again).

Whysoserious - That's exactly what happened to me last night. I was out and ordered a sausage. Cut it open, it looked fine. Started eating and chatting. Next thing I look down and it's pinky! I'd had one or two mouthfuls at least. :( I was worried all evening. I made DP research it this morning, and he found a paper that said there was only 3.4 cases in 100,000 pregnancies - and the vast majority of those wouldn't be from meat. Made me feel a bit better.

Also, read something last week which said most people in this country are immune to it already... I hate getting worried about all this stuff...

I would say, if you fancy something, have it. Pregnancy is not much fun so don't deny yourself (but don't start eating the neighbourhood cats).

I had rare steak regularly through both my pgs to help with my anaemia and also ate parma ham, brie, prawns, mussels etc. Both babies have been absolutely fine.

The reason they say to be more careful with sausages/ burgers etc is that because it's a minced meat product, there will be meat from more than one animal in it, so the risk is higher (just due to multiplication of a very small probability) than with a steak which is part of only one animal.

However, the risk is low so don't stress

I can't stomach meat that is well done... too many flashbacks to traumatic evenings of being told I couldn't leave the table til I ate my dinner... but the steak was like eating old shoe leather and so dry that I couldn't even swallow it (bloody mother who couldn't cook steak). Eurgh! So I specifically asked my midwife. She said steak is pretty much one of the meats where you can have a bit of lee-way. She said pale pink is fine, but red or running blood defo not fine. She said the same about lamb. But anything else, cook it properly (as you normally would with pork or chicken anyway).