I can't eat pate, right??

[VJONES1985]

Am four weeks pg and tomorrow going for a xmas meal that we've already chosen. I've got pate and am happy to not eat it but the people I'm going with don't know I'm pg and might wonder what the problem is...

Hi, I was told not to eat it so probably wouldn't, particularly early on. Most people that I mentioned this to had no idea it was something to avoid in pregnancy so you might get away with it?

You are right. You cant eat it! could you tell someone who has something else and swap with them. or hav a quiet word with the waiter before you sit down and ask if they can swap it for something else?

Liver pâté has too much vitamin A and tends to be a food poisoning risk.

I avoided it and it's the only thing (apart from runny scrambled eggs) that I missed.

Nope, not that early on in your pg and not if you don't know where it's been. I agree, maybe have a quiet word when you get to the restaurant to see whether it can be swapped.

It's hard at Christmas time, pate is usually my favourite starter!

Things I miss because of being pregnant:

Pate
Soft poached eggs
Soft fried eggs
Brie
A nice glass of red wine

Can you call the restaurant today and ask to change it, no need to draw attention to it tomorrow then. And congratulations

Definitely no pate if you're pregnant. It's a listeria risk if its not shelf-stable (regardless of what it's made from). If it's made from any type of liver the vitamin A can cause birth defects.

If it helps deflect attention, take some smoked salmon as well (not gravlax, which isn't heated it's cured) - a lot of people think pregnant women can't eat that but actually it's perfectly safe.

I don't like fish :-( Think I may have to mention it to someone.

Whereisshe I thought gravadlax was just smoked salmon with a different coating and dill sauce? Smoked salmon (which is cured) is fine in moderation.

Smoked salmon according to the NHS... because the smoking kills the parasites in the fish. Yes, you can also cure salmon prior to smoking it (not all smoked salmon is cured), but that doesn't make it safe during pregnancy.

Gravlax is ok if it's been frozen (as is all raw or cured fish) as the freezing kills the parasites. Just curing it (see gravlax recipe here doesn't kill the parasites.

Fair enough :)

I agree with others, I follow the following rules:

• I wouldn't eat liver pate (i.e. most meat pate) because you aren't meant to have liver for the high vitamin A;

• I wouldn't eat any form of pre-bought or restaurant pate as it is a food poisoning risk;

• But I personally would eat, for example, smoked salmon pate or mushroom pate that I'd made at home in my own kitchen that afternoon. The mere fact I've whizzed the ingredients together and chilled them for a couple of hours hasn't in itself made them risky.

Talulah - Up to you, obviously, but if you are in the UK and are eating shop bought lion stamped eggs, soft egg yolks are perfectly ok to eat. British hens for commercial production now have to be vaccinated for salmonella. Abroad may be different, and not from own/friends hens unless you know they vaccinate (which most people don't).

If it's difficult to swap it, just cut it up on your plate like you are going to eat it, but just eat the toast and chutney/salad! Nobody will nitice that you haven't eaten any and if they ask why you left so much you can just say that you didn't like it. Sneaky.

Congratulations by the way

I am exactly the same as Penguins - same rules for me too on all of that!

I miss pate. But last Christmas I had pate (we'd been TTC for six months without success at that point) and I felt so bitter over being able to eat it I didn't enjoy it either so this is the preferable choice!

Next Christmas I will have pate coming out my eyeballs.

Don't forget Stilton is actually fine as it's a hard cheese!!

I generally take a fairly flexible approach to the Foods To Avoid list, but pate is one of the things I really would not touch when pregnant. As others have said, it's often high in liver (though personally I'd have thought that just one serving probably wouldn't be likely to do much harm), it's generally one of the biggest risks for food poisoning, and if you're eating it Out you have little or no assurance that it has been properly stored and not eg left out of the fridge for six hours earlier in the day.

I really wouldn't, sorry.

Okay, if I chose something else instead, the other starters (apart from salmon) are brie, goats cheese or Camembert! Am I allowed any of those???

Is it baked Camembert? If so, you can eat that.

You can eat some types of goats cheese ... Could never work out which! Someone here will know.

You can have any of those cheeses if they're cooked, if they aren't then they are not safe.

The camembert is baked so think I will call ahead tomorrow and change my option.

Total aside but I really hate that with Christmas party meals - how you have to decide often months in advance what you'll have on the day! I mean, when you normally eat out, it's what you fancy at the time. I rarely fancy the exact same things I ordered months ago.

And that's even without the potential to get pregnant and rule out half the menu!

Baked camembert is not only okay, it's a definite pregnancy Must Have.

Hard goats cheese is fine but I'm guessing for a starter it's probably a soft one. Brie is out. Neither are as risky as pate, however!

You should be okay to ring in advance and swap stuff around if the place is half decent!