Accidently ate some bresaola (dried salt beef)

[Jars11]

Hey girls, i'm 22+6 and while on holiday in italy i accidently ate some bresaola at a restaurant, they were mixed in with a load of veg so i didn't really pay attention, and i wasn't too worried when i asked what it was after, but having gone home on googled it i realise it's the whole cured meat thing which is bad. I've been avoiding everything i known is even slightly risky and now i feel really stupid to have taken this risk. Has anyone eaten dried or cured meat during pregnancy before, and do you think a tiny bit is going to be a problem and i should see a doc? Any thoughts would be really appreciated.

If it made you ill I might consider seeing someone. If you're fine I wouldn't.

I think the "risk" with most of these things isn't that they are inherently dangerous for a foetus, rather that they might make the mother ill which could possibly be a problem. Happy to be corrected though.

Is it fair to say a one off is highly unlikely to be a risk? I'm definitely not planning to take the risk again with any unasvised foods

the risk is listeria. if you haven't had listeria as a result of eating it you are fine.

We make pur own salted meats (partner hunts) and I ate it during both pregnancy's with no issues.

You would know if you'd had listeria. If you are well then there isn't any problem. I would imagine the risk from salt beef is tiny anyway isn't it? The salt and the drying make it very hard for bacteria which need moisture and are killed by salting.

Thanks so much for all the comments guys, somewhat reassuring x

When I first got pregnant the enormous list of prohibited foods/activities seemed so restrictive I researched the risks to find out how likely they all were (don't bother asking your midwife/doctor, they won't know).

I worked out that the number of otherwise healthy pregnant women who contracted listeria in the year I looked at (2014 or 2015) would have been around eight. In the whole of the UK. It was a risk of about 0.8% I think. That's not even people whose listeria had any impact on their pregnancy - just otherwise healthy pregnant women who were diagnosed with it.

If it makes you feel better, for the last 7 months I haven't restricted any of my normal exercise - except in the last couple of weeks when it's just been too difficult to move - or, once I'd done some research and decided the risks were tiny, anything to eat or drink except alcohol (I already didn't smoke or play with recreational drugs) and baby has had no problems at all.

The risk with bresaola is toxoplasmosis not listeria but it is really unlikely that you would have got it from eating it once. If youre worried you could ask to be tested for it but the risk is miniscule - I have eaten loads of bresaola in my time and never contracted it.

allegretto is right (I didn't check the thread properly) - NHS puts it at 0.01% to 0.0033% babies affected by toxoplasmosis, as even if you get it, that doesn't mean it will cross the placenta.

(Also, typo in my % risk about listeria, it was actually 0.008% or something like that. I don't remember that well because it was a complicated calculation with the data that I could find )