Food worries.

[Dani00]

Hi everyone , this is my first baby and I'm really struggling to eat anything without being worried that it's the wrong thing! I've looked on the NHS website but some websites say different. I'm mainly struggling with lunches , are things like chicken sandwiches okay? I work for the NHS so not much time for a break, got to grab and go lol. Does everyone else get paranoid? I find myself googling every meal 😂

I was exactly the same! My midwife said to just look on the NHS website and follow them, though with reason! Basically you are trying to reduce the risk of getting food poisoning, so just think about what you eat and whether it can make you ill.

It is a worry but it gets better, I was searching every food possible whether it was okay to eat! Though go for pasteurised milk/cheese and try to stay away from most soft cheeses, other than that you should be okay 👍🏻

Thank you! I've had a m/c before and think it has made me extra paranoid! Would have never thought twice about eating half the things before!

I've been pretty much eating as normal. Except no shellfish, no rare meat, no unpasteurised cheese.

Okay thank you! Someone told me I couldn't eat shop bought sandwiches and stuff like that! Always have that or chicken salad for lunch so at a bit of a loss now.

Cold cooked meat is fine. Some other countries say not to eat it but that's because of different hygiene standards. As long as the meat had been properly refrigerated etc, it's fine so eat your chicken sandwiches

Ah that makes me feel better, thank you lemondrop.

Cooked shellfish is fine so no need to avoid it either. Shop bought sandwiches are fine too

And you can eat the soft cheeses if they have been cooked too so not totally on the banned list

I avoided soft cheese, anything undercooked (meat, fish and eggs) anything with raw egg in like homemade Mayo and cut down on tuna (I used to have a tin a day) other than that I pretty much ate as normal, only in much bigger portions and much more frequently

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought most soft cheeses were ok uncooked as long as they were pasturised? I though it was only mould ripened cheeses and blue cheeses that had to be thoroughly cooked?

And I thought hard cheese like parmesan was ok, even if unpasteurised, because the moisture content is lower so unlikely to harbour bacteria?

I sympathise OP, it is very complicated and lots of conflicting advice which stresses me out too, but as others have said I think the advice varying in other countries is mainly to do with different hygiene standards, so you will be fine just sticking to NHS guidelines in this country

The NHS website is good for this but in summary you should avoid unpasteurised cheeses unless cooked (most commonly, Brie unless cooked , blue cheeses and soft cheese unless pasteurised )
Also pate, any undercooked meats ( well done steaks and meat joints for you! ) shellfish are a by of a conflicting one but I only eat prawns and still did while pregnant - and undercooked eggs - again fine if not runny yolk. I think that's about it / apart from limiting to only one can of tuna a week and not eating shark or marlin! x

You can eat pretty much anything, just be sensible in regards to food poisoning.

No smoking, little alcohol, moderate caffeine.

I am happy to eat rare steak but ensure burgers and sausages are thoroughly cooked. I will eat runny eggs if they are lion stamped and in date.

The only thing I am avoiding is pate and uncooked soft/blue cheese due to listeria.

The other thing about liver pate is it will be too high in Vit A which should be avoided