Are raw onions ok - hoping it's a silly question!

[WorryWurta]

I went out for lunch today and had a cheese/tomato/onion Panini. I sort of realised whilst I was eating it that although it's warmed to melt the cheese the onions would still probably count as raw. I've had OCD related to catching listeria (amongst other things) in pregnancy so I always stay away from salads and raw veggies. But I'm trying to get over that now so I made myself finish the sandwich. Now I'm scared I've made a big mistake? Can anyone reassure me? Would other pregnant ladies eat raw(ish) onions?

Absolutely fine.

It's fine :)

I ate loads of raw onions while pregnant. It's fine

Definitely fine. Also, try to eat some fruit and veg: just give it a good clean. Is good for you and the little one

Onions are fine, not seen them mentioned anywhere in any pregnancy warnings at all. You need to eat loads of fruit and veg or you could get piles!

I don't think you're at all likely to get listeria from things which come in their own natural wrappers (skins), wonder if that would help you eat more? Things like bananas, oranges, onions, avocados, anything where you don't eat the skin would be peeled just before you eat it, so isn't going to have had a chance to get listeria, even if you're paraniod about other veg. Do make sure you get enough fibre!

The source of listeria would be the soil the plant is grown in, so anything that gets peeled at any point after it is picked should really be very low risk. Some more I can think of are mangoes, coconuts, pomegranite, squash, marrow, peas, melons, pineapple, papaya, beetroot... plus of course you could peel things which don't usually get peeled if you felt like it! Probably easier to just wash some things though, plus there's a lot more of the fibre you need in the skins of a lot of things.

Thanks for the reassurance :-) not much I can do about it now but it's good to feel a bit better! catsofa thanks for the tips! I do miss mango now you mention it...

Mango is high in vitamin A and I thought that was supposed to be avoided?

I've not seen mango on any "avoid during pregnancy lists", have you? BTW do not look at American lists of things you shouldn't eat or do, they're bonkers with paranoia over there! Stick to UK sites for sanity .

You are so right catsofa - the US sites are what set me off! I read one that said I shouldn't eat peelable fruits/veg because of the risk you would contaminate the inside of the fruit from cutting the outside skin. Hence my worries about the onion! Mind I also read one that said you should wash tin cans before opening in case you contaminate the contents from the bacteria on the outside of the tin...

Fine, just as long you are not going out on the pull...

Vegetable "vitamin A" (eg from carrot juice) is fine as I recall because it's provitamin A which is only turned into actual vitamin A if your body needs it. The stuff in vitamin supplements and liver is different; it's actual preformed vitamin A, and that's the stuff you can overdose on and should avoid in pg.

Thanks Questions that makes sense, I hadn't understood it before.

WorryWurta smoothies might be good too, they have loads of fibre in them and are pasteurised, so zero listeria risk. Big supermarkets do their own brands which are cheaper than Innocent etc.