Can we make a list of foods to avoid in pregnancy?

[cupcakes]

I've always avoided the obvious ones (liver, soft cheese) but there now seem to be so many others that the midwife hasn't told me about. Without scaremongering it would be interesting (for me at any rate) to compile a list of dodgy foods. Please feel free to correct if misinformed!

Soft cheese
liver
peanuts (if risk of allergy)
unpasteurised food
Mr Whippy Ice Cream
parma ham - what about reg ham or smoked salmon??
pre washed bags of salad
sushi
pate
uncooked meat
soft eggs
seafood?
tuna? - because of the mercury.

Please, please correct if any of these are wrong and please add others I've forgotton.

Also, if you can think of anything I can est please let me know.

I had a semi runny egg in Wetherspoons because they wouldn't do scrambled instead They took it back to the kitchen and flipped it over in the frying pan!!!

I'm not cutting out anything especially, (though draw the line at booze, try to wash veg carefully and not having raw meat like beef carpaccio or whatever). Live in Kazakhstan, where the food is slightly dodgy anyway, and god knows what pesticides are in the veg etc, so on rare trips back to Europe can't resist a gorge on all kinds of unpasteurised cheeses and sushi! as at least it passes some kind of quality standards.

I also thought that in France preg women eat everything, in Japan they are allowed sushi etc, and it seems to be more what the culture says is acceptable, and I wouldn't have thought they had a significantly higher rate of problems; at least I don't think their infant mortality rate is any higher than ours, (but maybe am talking out of my *rse!)

Hi Gem, I like your style. I am not going mad eating banned foods, but once in a while treat myself to pate, sushi, soft cheeses. I figure if I have had loads of these pre-preg, then it should be fine in little doses now and then. It is hard for a foodie to be pregnant.

what about salami and anchovies? Is the former cured and the latter not cooked? it was something I read on a thread here.

what about salami and anchovies? Is the former cured and the latter not cooked ? it was something I read on a thread here.

what about salami and anchovies? Is the former cured and the latter not cooked? it was something I read on a thread here.

damn I only hit post once!

What about prawn and mayo sandwiches?

I think anchovies are ok (I ate anchovies in olive oil on buttered bread all through my first pregnancy)
In Italy (and I think in france and spain too) pg women are regularly tested for toxoplasmosis because people generally eat lots of non cooked ham, salame and raw meat. I tested negative on my first pg so I had to avoid raw meat and wash my veg very well (with bicarbonate of soda). Here in England it's not common to be tested for toxo. But during my second pg I stressed a lot about listeria (I always need to stress about something iykwm) instead

im a bit confused about the whole prawns thing... i think someone mentioned that they shouldnt be eaten unless they were cooked, but does anyone actually eat raw prawns? the prawns bought in a packet from a supermarket are cooked already arent they? because raw prawns are kinda greyish and translucent, and become pink when cooked, which the majority of shop bought ones are. so are they ok to eat?

the thing about occasionally having 'banned' foods is because you're more likely to infect the fetus with listeria or sim, not yourself. So isn't it irrelevant if you've built up a good resistance to bacteria in certain cheeses etc? I mean, you may not feel ill but it could still harm the baby.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. this is just an assumption I've formed.

prawns are fine the majority have been cooked (pink supermarket ones)

anchovies also fine as they are so salty that no harmful bacteria can grow on them

cupcakes - I agree with you.

I'm much more careful about listeria and toxoplasmosis, as these are infections that can harm the fetus (and I don't think you can build up a resistance to listeria, although sweetkitty may correct me on this one!).

But I am a bit more cavalier about runny eggs (esp organic ones) as this is about salmonella, which is a minute risk, and doesn't have a direct effect on the fetus - only if you run a very high temperature.

And I'm a bit surprised at people's midwives telling them that pasteurised brie is OK - the risk from listeria is not in the making process, it is because bries and blue cheeses are quite moist but stored, so listeria can get into them as part of their maturing, and because of the moisture content, it can grow. Hard cheeses don't have enough moisture for this to happen.

But I think all of this is generally explained very badly - I only got my head round it by doing a cheese and food hygiene course.

I've never heard of not being able to eat pre-washed bags of salad.

So if the pre-washed salad has SOME chemical in it before it is packed, what happens if you bring home bagged salad, rinse it with cold water, and then eat it?

(Sorry to sound really thick but being pg does these things to me).

or what about organic salad??
sorry, I don't have an answer. I'm just as clueless at the moment.

I used to rinse pre-washed salad under cold water when pg.

I thought you had to wash all salad carefully as it's a listeria risk, rather than being about any chemical washes on pre-washed stuff. Same reason important to wash salad and fruit on hols even if not pregnant.

Found this on Google on a paper on food safety:
"A few foods, such as fresh fruit, salad vegetables or unpasteurised fruit juices may, on some occasions, contain micro-organisms that may cause food poisoning. Fresh fruit and salad vegetables should always be washed thoroughly in fresh, clean water just before eating. Leafy vegetables such as lettuces should be washed leaf by leaf."

Pinchy

I have read is ok because listeria has to have a moist environment to survive and parmesan is dry.

This page has probably be linked to before buts its pretty good
\link{http://www.shef.ac.uk/pregnancy_nutrition/nutrition.php?kf_id=g\pregnancynutrition}

What about other things off the deli counter at the superrmarket? If things like olives are on the same counter as blue cheese and pate, should you avoid those too? Or are they ok? Maybe slightly paranoid, but surely if the pate and cheese has listeria then won't it be in the olives too?

someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think that:

• olives are either in brine or oil, so this stops bacteria growing
• ditto any hard cheeses that are sitting around on the deli counter, because they don't have the moisture it needs.

But they do say to be careful of salads in mayo from deli counter/sandwich shops, because listeria could grow in this. And ditto pate because of the moisture.

The one I worry about is hard cheese made with unpasteurised milk - logically it ought to be fine, but I'm still avoiding it. Anyone got a definite answer on that one?

Babies can't catch infections while in utero. None at all. They are protected. The risk of listeria, toxoplasmosis (and chickenpox, rubella, salmonella etc) is that they might make you so ill that the baby has developmental problems (from being too hot), or might make you so ill that you miscarry.

So if you are immune to toxoplasmosis (chickenpox, listeria, rubella, whatever), then that infection poses no risk to you or the baby.

Sorry, but that isn't always the case. It's true for almost all of infections, but not listeria/toxoplasmosis/rubella. These can cross to the placenta, and cause either developmental damage, or miscarriage, which is why there are the restrictions on what you should eat in pregnancy.

The site that Alex8 linked to below sets it out v clearly.

It is true for salmonella, though, that the only risk is from an increased body temperature.

Ah, fair enough. It does sound like the mother has to become infected for that to happen, though.

Kayzed, I'm a hypocondriac as well, and spent my last pg stressing about everything, but I really think parmesan is ok (it's dry)
totally agree with twocatsinabed