How strict are you being with "banned" foods?

[DecaffTastesWeird]

Just interested to know the above really. Also, are you avoiding foods based on what your MW / HCP recommends, the NHS website or elsewhere? Thanks.

tak1ng I think you should have it during the c-section (provided you're only having a local anaesthetic of course)!

The leaflet the nurse gave me said to even avoid vegetable pate! I'm vegan so thought I could more or less eat as normal (apart from booze and caffeine, obviously) - and I've still got some mushroom pate in the fridge so I don't know what to do now

The pate thing is due to the high level of Vit A in liver - I think you will be fine with mushroom pate - not sure how it is made but doubt if its vegan there is nothing too dangerous in it!

Liver pate is the vitamin A thing but the warning against all pates is because of how they are made, anything where the food is minced up fine and mixed like that means a bigger risk of food poisoning (specifically listeria, I think). Because if one bit of the ingredients is bad it could taint the whole lot. Same reason that more people would probably eat a rare steak than a rare hamburger. (Obv there are other variables involved too!)

I always thought if I got desperate for pate I would make a batch of chicken liver pate myself and eat it immediately, at least then hopefully bypassing any listeria risk... The excess vitamin A would be fine as long as I wasn't doing it every week :-D

Oh crap am I not supposed to have eaten all that ice cream?! I've still got half a packet of Vienetta in the freezer!

I'm normally a massive tea drinker but have cut down to two a day, very occasionally three.

No alcohol in first trimester and I reckon a glass of wine a week after that 'cos I think I could remember if I'd had a glass this week or not.

Been really really strict about everything else, partly because my diet doesn't normally revolve much around any of it anyway, and partly just because I'm quite good at being all cautious and a worrier. If anything went wrong with the baby I would be absolutely devastated and never forgive myself for the rest of my life for having more than two tins of tuna that one week or whatever - even if it was something that couldn't possibly have caused it!

N.B. I am only 8 + 5 so it's quite possible that I will crack and eat three whole packets of brie at 3am in week 29. If I crack, my money is on the cheese.

I can't eat ice cream!??? That is just not flying with me. I have also eaten salami, brie, McDonalds, and prawns. And I have drunk diet coke. On my first week of being pregnant (and not knowing it) I drank till I was drunk, and smoked till I was smoked. I hasten to add I stopped both the moment I found out! Let's just conclude I'm living with a fair amount of guilt right now....

Don't panic, ice cream is fine. From the NHS website:

"Ice cream in pregnancy

Soft ice creams should be fine to eat when you're pregnant, as they are processed products made with pasteurised milk and eggs, so any risk of salmonella food poisoning has been eliminated.

For homemade ice cream, use a pasteurised egg substitute or follow an egg-free recipe."

I'm off to eat the other half of that Vienetta now I've remembered it's in the freezer...

I think the veg or other pate thing is ridiculous. Like with many things though, I would be cautious where you get it. I'm very unlikely to eat things like that from one of those sandwich deli places where they make stuff in the morning and it's out all day. But pate from marks and spencer I wouldn't think twice about.

I do think there's a risk analysis that needs to happen and that doesn't. Rather there are blanket "rules" and the result is a whole lot of woman misunderstanding and avoiding all seafood (for example). I've seen people on here refusing to eat fish and chips.

If I recall correctly, most listeria cases in this country are from lettuce! Do not ask for salad in your sandwich and definitely avoid the little side salad!!

Chunderella, exactly!!! Couldn't agree more. When I offer someone homemade mackerel pate and they say no because they are pregnant I have to carefully resist urge to roll my eyes!!

Chunderella Agree but unfortunately my bizarre craving for about the last 15 weeks is for a nice slab of Smooth Brussels Pate - nothing else will cut it.

I have even had a debate in my head about the amount of Vit A it may have in it and it can't possibly be enough just once - but something is stopping me - bit like the eggs - irrational but not going to kill me to go with out!

As D day is tomorrow am hoping I don't have to hold out for too much longer!

Chunderella and WorkingBling, according to NHS website:

"Avoid all types of pâté, including vegetable pâtés, as they can contain listeria"

It does seem a bit weird as they don't say to avoid hummus / guacamole etc... Can't see how lentil pate is much different to hummus myself?

I'm really strict about things that can cause listeriosis, but am a bit more relaxed about everything else. I've had a few sips of wine, had a medium rare steak and enjoyed soft boiled eggs.

Really I follow the NHS guidance as so many myths (as can be seen from this thread) abound!

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/917.aspx?CategoryID=54#close

Yes, but the nhs website basically covers all worst case scenario. It's too complicated for them to explain why there is a potential issue. And in my experience the reality is that a lot of women aren't interested in actually informing themselves. So nhs says NO but if you actually look into it you realise that really, chopping veggies then mixing them
Up and eating them is really pretty unlikely to cause problems. By this theory homemade soup or any kind of juice or smoothie would be out too.

I don't blame the nhs- they have to give advice that is easy to follow and highly risk averse. But I think women need to educate themselves a bit better too and not just sit back.

Although that can back fire too. I got chatting to a woman once who had a whole list of things she couldn't eat including prawns because, "they are bottom feeders and that is risky for me". I did wonder if getting pregnant meant you had to convert to Judaism!

I don't think the NHS advice is that risk averse and think it is pretty balanced. The American advice is much, much worse!

I guess what I don't want to do is become obsessed with food WRT what I can and cannot eat, I'd actually rather just pick a different option when there's something I'm not sure about and get on with eating stuff rather than thinking through the risks in detail for every food group on the list.

Most of it I never eat anyway, I just can't be arsed to learn why exactly pate or liver is risky when the last time I ate any was in about 1988, and I've never even seen a swordfish. I do normally eat loads of Brie and Danish blue, so I've bothered to research that a little and discovered that it's ok to eat stilton instead. But if someone offers me pate I'll have to refuse because I haven't bothered researching exactly what the risk is. I'd be refusing more from laziness than pickiness.

I'm also finding that reading or hearing the name of a food makes me desperately want to consume a large bucket full of it right this minute, so I'd prefer to concentrate on the enormous list of things I can have rather than set off random cravings for the tricky stuff.

That is a bloody good point above about most listeria cases coming from lettuce! I haven't been washing my salad as is recommended because I buy those bags of small leaves and it's just such a massive hassle to wash it and then get it dry enough to go in a sandwich without squishing it. Plus it would go slimy much quicker if I tried to be efficient and wash the whole bag full at once, since it takes me four days or so to get through a whole bag. Maybe I should be buying whole lettuce with big leaves which are easier to wash?

The link on alcohol in pregnancy makes clear that there is uncertainty over how much alcohol is safe, if there is a safe limit, and that evidence is limited.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2270.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=130#close

I agree with you Chunderella.

I read an article about the BMA calling for the guidelines to be changed so that pregnant women were advised to avoid alcohol completely. Apparently they were concerned that women didn't know what a unit was and were pouring 2 giant buckets of wine twice a week, thinking they were sticking to the guidelines. Yeah, I bet that happens all the time, women just don't know what a unit of wine is .

Yes, I think Ito alcohol they are gentle about it but do tend to suggest avoiding completely. Bollocks to that I say!

Although my NHS doctor did say it is fine to have 1-2 units once or twice a week, so maybe the guidelines have changed back?

Sorry just saw your link Dino.