I'm glad I don't live in NZ

[MissTwister]

I came across the list of what pregnant ladies shouldn't eat in New Zealand. No cold meat at all, no pre-prepared salads, no parsley, no hummus, no ham, no nothing. What would one eat in a sandwich!!!

www.foodsmart.govt.nz/information-for/pregnant-women/list-of-safe-food.htm

Blimey my lunch alone would have seen me carted off... Coronation chicken with bagged salad sandwich!

Why so strict?

There was a bagged salad 'scare' here a little while ago with people getting serious food poisoning from it (and bagged carrots IIRC).

I've only ever been pregnant here and didn't realise the ham was just an NZ thing. You are only supposed to it if it is 'piping hot'. I actually ignored most of the recs as I researched what other countries said and found it was different everywhere.

My husband is on immuno-suppresants (transplant) and has also been told to avoid cold cooked meats for the rest of his life.

When I was pregnant with DD1 I had a work colleague give me a right telling off when he saw me drinking a can of coke as it would 'harm my child'. They are very anti any alcohol at all - a current affairs programme did a little test where they got a pregnant woman to sit in a bar and pretend to be drinking wine and said how shocking it was she was served and nobody intervened.

I seriously don't understand what those restrictions allow a person who works and has to eat out and about, to eat though. You'd either have to cook every single meal at home from scratch - impossible - or only eat processed foods like crisps - surely not healthy either.

Who would I would tell your colleague to do one - how does the odd can of coke harm a baby!!! And the wine? Sounds like its going the way of the US...

Also as you say when the rules are so strict you have to ignore them to live with surely defeats the object and means some of the more important rules may be ignored.

I would like to see someone intervene if I decide to have a glass of wine! I also have a friend in the US who had massive issues getting a normal (and not decaf) cup of coffee. Pregnant women seem to be public property, for everybody else to decide what we can and can't eat.

GP friend of mine told me hummus should technically be classed as pate and therefore on the no list here but - as she said - as a vegetarian chickpeas are such a good source of protein it wouldn't make much sense to stop us eating it.

NZ has a really high rate of food poisoning. Am surprised chicken (of any sort) isn't on the list. Hummus is a strange thing to ban but I guess anything in the chilled section of the supermarket risks being stored incorrectly and causing tummy upset. Have had many mouldy yoghurts from NZ supermarkets over the years. Ok maybe the same supermarket

My Danish friend told me the only thing advised against in her country is ginger, since it can lower your blood pressure.

eme, chicken is on the list: any cold pre-cooked poultry (eg, chicken, turkey etc.) - Don’t eat

But yes, some of the recommendations are different in different countries due to different risks - like that cold meat is off limits in some countries because food preparation standards are not on the same level as in the EU.

In some cases, it's different risk assessment though - for example, everybody knows that you have to use at least 70C water to prepare formula, to kill all the nasty bacteria. Well, if you go to France, all the formula tins say NOT to use water over 40C. is it different, bacteria-free formula? No. Allegedly the reasoning is, that there are more risks if sleep-deprived parents operate with boiling water around babies than are the risks from bacteria in formula.