What can't you eat when pregnant? just got bfp

[Newmom2b]

Hi all, I just got my bfp and was about to make a fried egg with my dinner but remembered that I probably shouldn't. My lo is nearly 3 so have forgotten and the do's and donts. Can you remind me? TIA x

*really

Johnny it's not true that all fish has to be frozen. If you look at Itsu's website under "salmon" link here it proudly states that their salmon is fresh, never frozen (as euro says)

I thought the same as you - till I checked. Either they are breaking the law or there isn't a law.

It's salmon which mostly carries the worms. I believe tuna doesn't carry them, so in theory raw tuna sashimi/sushi should be ok.

mini - I see the regulations have indeed been relaxed: FSA update from 2012

Chica, I think you would know but I'm really not an expert - you'd need to check with a healthcare professional really.

Listeria food poisoning can be mild, but mild like flu, not like 'not notice'.

Don't know about toxo.

Toxo again is like a bad cold or mild flu. Probably confused with one during childhood (80% of people are already carriers so safe) and don't know.
They could do a blood test at booking in, really (or 12 weeks along with the others). It would make it easier to know whether you could eat sashimi and rare steak ... although the real risk is SOIL. Yep, anything grown in the soil can have toxo! Washing and cooking it sorts it (also explains why some countries say NO raw veg/salad at all).

BTW I do eat salad etc.

Having recovered from Orthorexia and having CBT for anxiety/OCD about health (specifically pregnancy loss), I find some online advice (away from the NHS) about avoiding chilled foods, mayo etc' 'wholesale' extremely and triggering. The 'what ifs' and vague wording (not to mention hailing some things as big risks without the stats to show they're not as risky as anything else) is like OCD/anxiety heaven.

And the way (often men) act as if this is how we AUGHT to feel.
Scared. Or we're to blame for pregnancy loss.
More to the point, scared of one food that is often no more intrinsically risky than another food.

Warning on toxo - I grew up with cats and assumed I was probably immune BUT I had a blood test for toxo during pregnancy and it came back negative - which means I was not immune.

squizita Yes I'd love it if the test was routine. In France and Italy it is apparently - pg women get tested every few weeks for toxo - I think it's seen as inhumane to expect them to avoid rare meat

Just read your second post squiz - I agree. The vast vast majority of pregnancy losses and foetal complications have absolutely nothing to do with anything the mother did or didn't eat.

Another big fan of Emily Oster's " Expecting Better" - balanced and intelligent, it doesn't treat you like an idiot like most of the other guidelines out there.

I have to say though, I've done masses of reading and research and the one thing I'm still finding completely conflicting guidance on blue cheese/Stilton. As far as I can ascertain, nhs and others advise no blue cheese whatsoever, pasteurised or not. Yet often in discussions as the above, people seem confident it's ok? This is of utmost importance to me as a cheese addict...

I'm confused about this too Vivi! I think the risk is that the mould can carry listeria (separate risk from unpasturisation causing listeria) but I look at food safety records here in NZ and there's never been a listeria outbreak as a result of mould on cheese. I still eat brie but not blue which is illogical as they are both mouldy!

I'd love to get tested from toxo immunity, I just don't eating red meat anymore as I can't bear to eat a piece of well done steak. When I have the baby I'm going to have a rare roast beef sandwich and a pot of pate. And a bottle of wine.

Gennz In the UK stilton is considered OK, Brie not.
It's the rind not the mould through it IYSWIM, also the hardness.

Stilton is a hard, matured cheese. It has been stored, getting hard, for months. It can therefore be stored a long time with low food poisoning risk (like cheddar). You don't eat the crusty rind.

French/Italian blue cheese is soft mould-RIND cheese. It is matured in a different way and stays soft - so goes "bad" (especially the edible rind) after a while.

The blue mould isn't the problem: it's harmless and we digest it as usual. It's the rind (which could hide white mould) and texture of the cheese which is important.
I think historically people have jumped on what they see (ugh, BLUE MOULD) rather than looking at the risks.

So the Stilton I wasted a few months ago was ok to eat? What a waste!

Also thoroughly recommend Emily Oster's book. Pragmatic, risk based approach to every pregnancy do & don't. I found it much easier to make decisions after this book. Worth reading.

I have also steered clear of Tuna. From what I understand it is high in magnesium, which is a no no from a developmental perspective (however perhaps this is only a problem during the 1st trimester???).

I probably have 2-3 small glasses of wine a month & I drink it very slowly. I know from all my research that this is entirely safe. Crazy as it is, I still feel guilty about it. Talk about martyed behaviour!!

Tinned tuna is OK in smaller amounts (2 tins a week... realistically, how much can a woman eat??).

I've heard it's important to get enough fish. Sadly I went off it so much! Can't even bear cod and chips... usually I eat cockles, mussels, squid, fish etc' weekly.

I've gone completely off fish too Squizita. Taking Omega3s to compensate. just cannot stomach fish at all now and the smell of it makes me GAWK.

I'm finding it hard to stick to that 2 small tins of tuna a week. I have gone off some fish too, salmon in particular. Can't get enough fish finger sandwiches though!

With my aversion to meat, yoghurt, and now nuts and milk I'd be a bit stuck if I couldn't. Have fish, eggs or cheese!

Whaaaat I thought magnesium was good in pregnancy? I have been limiting tuna too though, for no good reason.

I too have been the Captain Slow of drinking, high point was eke-ing out a flute of champagne over 1.5 hours. Now that I've annouced to all and sundry I'm pregnant I'm gettign lectures about alcohol from people I barely know. V annoying when you are being totally responsible and super-disciplined about rationing.

squizita I didn't think sashimi was a toxo risk? just had salmon sashimi for lunch I thought toxo was from dirt/cat shit/well done rare meat? (Yes I actually just wrote that. I meant rare meat.)

My idol Emily Oster says sashimi is okay ...

Mr whippy (the vans, not McDonald's type) I wouldn't touch with a barge pole pregnant or not
My gran had one from a van, and I saw the effects on her. Turned out the machine wasn't cleaned properly, she was violently ill, spent weeks in hospital and environmental health etc were involved
McDonald's mcflurry I will happily eat, like you say big chains generally have rigorous cleaning measures
Ice cream vans stick to scoop or packaged ones

I thought the tuna issue was mercury too same as swordfish not magnesium which I also thought was good for you whereas mercury isn't.

Gennz, I would find that annoying too. I've only avoided alcohol as I've gone off the taste of all of it bizarrely but I wouldn't hesitate otherwise. I love the smell of it though sometimes when dh opens a beer I have to sniff it!

Gennz TBH I also eat sushi. I think they say 'toxo' as shorthand for 'some kind of parasite'.
With tuna etc' I'm pretty sure it's mercury that they want to limit.

I had people have a go about TEA AND COFFEE! Which even following the guide to the letter you're allowed 2 cups of. One of them dared bring up past miscarriages I was FUMING.

I can't drink tea and coffee I've gone off it but my doctor told me to drink more! Over here they don't see caffeine as a problem at all!

But Squiz, I would have been fuming about the miscarriages comment too. I think some people have to look for a cause and something to blame it. Is a cliché I know but I accepted mine was just one of those things I have no control over.

Mrsnec the worst thing is they have a cause - I had an undiagnosed blood condition! So they're basically suggesting the Dr was wrong and it was my fault after all grr.