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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Eaten 2 things I shouldn't have!!

17 replies

Mummytono2 · 29/04/2014 06:51

Hi guys looking for some advice!

I was at a taster session on Sunday and tried a canapé which I thought was salmon but was actually crayfish - and a crayfish terrine!

I'm a bit worried now! Would a canapé be ok as its pretty small?

I also tried chocolate mousse which I've since read is a no no! Pretty sure I ate this with my first without knowing!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
TravellingToad · 29/04/2014 06:54

If that was Sunday and you've got to Tuesday without food poisoning then you're fine.

TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle · 29/04/2014 06:56

It's Tuesday now... If you were going to get sick from eating either of these things then you'd know by now!

The risk of both shellfish and raw egg (mousse) is catching listeria or salmonella or another bug which might make you ill and then the illness effect your baby. The food itself is not the issue.

If you've got to today and feel ok then I doubt very much that you have anything to worry about.

hubbahubster · 29/04/2014 07:34

You can eat shellfish - you just have to be careful that it's properly cooked. Commercial hens in the UK are vaccinated against salmonella. There's very little risk, and the fact you're ok now means you're v likely to be fine.

Mummytono2 · 29/04/2014 07:39

I read that sometimes with listeria u don't get symptoms. But would u get listeria from 1 to 2 bites of something?! I'm freakingg out about almost everything right now.

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ClubName · 29/04/2014 08:00

I didn't know about shellfish until about 4 weeks before DS1 was born. I felt really poorly for most of the pregnancy and survived mainly on bran flakes and prawn sandwiches. I had a prawn sarnie at least 5 times a week for 8 months without any problems.

eurochick · 29/04/2014 08:05

Shellfish is fine. I don't know why so many people have the impression it's a problem.

As others have said it is very unlikely that you have picked up salmonella or listeria. I can't remember the exact figures now but I think last year there were a couple of hundred listeria cases in the whole of the UK. In a population of 60 million. And eggs here are vaccinated against salmonella. I regularly eat runny eggs.

soundsystem · 29/04/2014 08:25

You are almost certainly fine so I wouldn't worry, however the above advice regarding food poisoning isn't correct in the case of listeria: this can develop up to 31 days after eating affected food. It's pretty rare and even if you do have it it's treatable, so please don't worry. Symptoms usually start of like a bad cold so if you feel like you've caught a cold in the next month go and see your doctor and mention your concerns, they can test for listeria to put your mid at rest.

As others have said, concerns about eggs are overly cautious as eggs in this country are vaccinated against samonella. I work in food safety and in 10 years have never come across a case of salmonella from lion-stamped eggs. Even in the extremely unlikely event you did get salmonella, you'd feel pretty terrible, there's no specifc risk to your baby.

xx

squizita · 29/04/2014 08:43

You are allowed cooked crayfish! :) It's raw seafood that is not permitted.

Chocolate mousse may have raw egg. Most commercially produced mousse is cooked/pasteurised in some way though. Even if not, the risk of salmonella is pretty darn small if it's from a clean respectable place.

I'm almost glad I have medical anxiety due to recurrent miscarriage and (1) only trust what my hospital (a national centre) say and (2) read it obsessively including why (e.g. liver actually has something harmful in it, whereas eggs carry a tiny risk of food poisoning).
In a weird way I seem to know I'm OK to eat loads of stuff 'the internet' and the daily mail scare women with.

I have this NHS page bookmarked (due to my anxiety!) but it's quite useful for relieving fears: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx#close

squizita · 29/04/2014 08:45

Here's the official advice re shellfish "It’s safe to eat shellfish during pregnancy as long as it’s been thoroughly cooked." From This NHS page.

WandaDoff · 29/04/2014 08:50

You'll be fine, if there were going to be any ill effects you would know about them by now.

Mummytono2 · 29/04/2014 09:35

Thanks all. Is it all pâté that contains listeria? Or is it "contaminated" pâté only?

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soundsystem · 29/04/2014 09:45

Only "contaminated" pate. The only problem is, there's no way for you to know if it's contaminated or not. It's one of those things you need to weigh up for yourself, really: the chance of getting listeria is very very slight, however, if you do get it the consequences are severe. For me personally, I am ignoring quite a lot of the things-you-can't-eat rules (having small amount of alcohol and pretty regular cups of tea, and soft boiled eggs) but I am avoiding pate, soft cheese, etc.

KatraAllandra · 29/04/2014 09:56

Not all pâté will contain listeria, if it did it would be far more common as a disease, as Eurochick said above there are only a couple of hundred cases across the whole of the UK each year. So, I know it's not easy but try to relax.

I gave myself really stress over Xmas when I realised that the delicious cheeses I'd been stuffing my face with were mostly unpasteurised, but I stopped eating them and everything has been fine. I also ate haggis a few times around Burn's night which is also on the no-no list.

The guidance on the NHS website Squizita linked to is very good, but is written from the point of view of keeping all risks to an absolute minimum. However, I'm pretty sure that every pregnant woman has eaten at least one thing off that list at some point in their pregnancy without them or baby coming to any harm.

Also, the guidance changes a lot, my mother was advised to eat liver 2-3 times a week when pregnant with me, as were many others at the time, now we're told to avoid it entirely. The guidance is also very different in other countries and some of my European friends think the restrictions here are a bit mad.

So, what I'm trying to say is - you could drive yourself mad trying to avoid all the foods on the restricted list all the time, let alone all the things on all the different lists from different countries or even organisations within this country, but the stress you cause yourself won't do either yourself or the baby any good. Familiarise yourself with the NHS list, try to avoid the things listed if you can and if you feel ill go to your GP and get check out.

squizita · 29/04/2014 10:38

Mummytono Meat pate has high liver content, so is considered high in vitamin A. If you made 100% fresh veggie pate yourself, I guess the risks would be nigh on 0, but they say no pate because it's minced up then left... a bit like why we don't tend to eat raw sausage/burger.

PenguinsLoveFishFingers · 29/04/2014 10:44

Jesus, the food 'rules' around pregnancy give me the absolute rage. They terrify women by giving them massive scare information and no real facts.

You ate the food on Sunday. It's Tuesday. By now, if you had food poisoning, you would almost certainly know. Yes, listeriosis can be 'mild', but mild as in similar to flu. Not mild as in no freaking symptoms. This is quite an old article now, but still talks a lot of sense.

Squizita is also very right when she says that liver is the bigger issue with pate. Many pates are liver based, which can be harmful due to very high levels of vitamin A. Other pate ingredients don't undergo some magic transformation from safe to harmful due to being squished up and put in a tub. It's all about the nature of the storage, etc. But, as has been said, the risk of food poisoning is very low, and if you had it you'd almost certainly know by now.

Mummytono2 · 29/04/2014 10:56

I'm assuming the small amount that's in a canapé would be negligible too!!

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PenguinsLoveFishFingers · 29/04/2014 11:04

Well crayfish terrine almost certainly had no liver.

So the 'risk' is food poisoning. There it's not really amount. It's 'are you the very unlucky person who got the bacteria'. But like I said, it's incredibly rare and you'd almost certainly know by now.

You're fine Smile

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