Going Abroad - Food?

[ExpectingFirst]

Morning,

I will be going abroad to Majorca soon and will be 14 weeks when I do.

I was just wondering about any food I should be avoiding when there? I have always avoided salad & ice due to the water but would I be okay to eat eggs? Or Omelette? I'm guessing fruit would be okay. Meat? Fish? Maybe I'm just being over cautious.

TIA

I'd just avoid everything. Everyone knows everything abroad is dangerous.

Just take a common sense approach and don't eat or drink anything you wouldn't eat in this country. Majorca is part of Spain and not uncivilised. If you go in a dodgy kebab shop it will probably be as dodgy as a dodgy kebab shop in this country. If you eat in a decent restaurant it will be as good quality as food in a decent restaurant in this country. And if you self cater, go to the market and you will find the quality of the food, veg, meat, fish and eggs to far surpass any of the crap offerings our supermarket have.

Avoid blue cheese and shellfish and you should be fine.

PS they have clean running water in the taps there. Brilliant! Brushing your teeth or having an ice cube in your drink will almost certainly have no effect on you or your baby. Personally I'd buy water for the taste, but then again when I am abroad (much of the time these days, and in far dodgier places than Spain,) I mostly stick with the beer. Not advisable for you.

It’s spain, not Delhi. You’ll be fine.

I would eat everything that I would eat here (including salad and ice!). I’m going to Spain at 23 weeks and Portugal at 29 weeks and will only avoid the things on the NHS exclusion list (I.e. undercooked burgers, pate etc)

It’s just about common sense - if a place looks a bit dodgy don’t eat. Most places in Spain will be fine, other parts of the world not so much. In my first pregnancy I went to Delhi at 16 weeks and was much much more cautious about food/drink than I would be in e.g. Spain!

IT'S BLOODY SPAIN FFS!

Sorry for shouting but come the fuck on. Have you never left the UK? Avoid salad and ice in Spain? Avoid omlettes?

Have just come back from Spain. I obviously didn’t have rare steak, blue cheese and brie, but I ate everything else. You can’t go to Spain and not do tapas properly.

We bought bottled water, but I cleaned my teeth with the tap.

I tended to drink mineral water when going out for meals, so my drinks didn’t come with ice.

I did have a couple of mixed salads and was absolutely fine.

You can have cured meats, you can have shellfish and it wouldn’t be a proper Spanish holiday without seafood, serrano ham and chorizo!!!

I would suggest not eating runny eggs due to the salmonella risk (not a thing in the U.K. due to the vaccinations), plus the normal list of foods to avoid due to listeria etc. If you like fish make sure you're not eating the mercury heavy ones - Tuna, swordfish etc.

Well thanks for the helpful opinions. Not the damn right cocky & rude ones.

This is my first pregnancy, I am asking advice as I have no idea whether the foods are different in another country. No need to be so rude about it.

Went to Spain at 8 weeks pregnant and ate ALLLLLLLL the foods thanks to all inclusive. Just follow the same rules you would here. I tended to avoid the (soft/not fully cooked) eggs because I wasn’t sure how the lion stamp thing worked there and they looked at me funny when I asked if they were lion stamped. I didn’t know what question I was really asking so I just left them (after eating a few before I thought about it).

I think everyone is being a little harsh on the OP.

OP I suffer from health anxiety and I don't think you're asking an unreasonable question at all. I would follow the nhs guidance but probably avoid undercooked eggs as you may not know if they are lion stamped. I would feel ok drinking water, having ice in drinks and eating salad. I hope that helps.

I’m currently on holiday in Majorca (im9+5) and I’ve eat everything really apart from the cheese and cured meats (I wouldn’t eat them anyway de to preference). Haven’t been ill or anything, all good.

I lived in Spain for the majority of my first pregnancy. I just followed the NHS guidelines for what to avoid.
I ate loads of salad.

Great thank you

Least I know can have ice in my drinks and eat the salad! Thank you for all your suggestions

I have no idea whether the foods are different in another country

If you’ve not been out of the U.K. before then you probably should have mentioned that in your OP.

The main thing I’d be more cautious about is runny eggs. I’ll happily eat them in the uk if they are lion stamped, but would make sure to only eat fully cooked ones abroad.

The Ovia app has a food safety lookup list that might be helpful for you. I found it useful when eating out more and checking things I hadn’t really considered before. Otherwise just stick to the NHS guidance and you’ll be fine.

Spanish women are advised not to eat soft-cooked eggs (their hens are not routinely vaccinated for salmonella as they are here) or cured meats (they are all obsessed with toxoplasmosis and tested periodically throughout pregnancy).

You can have cured meats

I wouldn't recommend it. Most Spanish women don't.

I agree Baxbaum cured meats are definitely on the NHS no list. Avoid them because of the toxoplasmosis risk both here and in Spain.

I think people are being really unnecessarily rude here. The food guidelines do differ in different countries, and there's a reason for that. I went to the US recently and didn't eat runny eggs - not because I think the US is 'uncivilized', but because their eggs do still carry a much higher risk of salmonella than ours, and thus pregnant women there are advised not to eat runny eggs. Just because you're going to an equally developed nation doesn't mean all food standards are the same (I'm sure there are plenty of things that are safer elsewhere than in the UK, too) so it does make sense to check.

OP, it's Majorca, you're effectively going to Little Britain in Spain... Just eat the way you eat at home - have a lovely time.

OP is this the first time you'll be going abroad? If so, you should have mentioned it as the replies would be far less abrasive!

Given that a lot of the abrasive posts are actually wrong (food risks are not the same everywhere in the developed world, hence the lots of people offering more sensible advice on eggs) I actually think it's a bit unfair to blame OP for them!

It might be useful to get a translation app on your phone. There is a really good one ( which I can't remember the name of) that you hold over the menu and it translates to english. You may not recognise some food types or want to ask about ingredients in certain dishes.
I have travelled a lot, and I'm currently living in France, but since being pregnant I've needed to check things I wouldn't normally think twice about, right down to the list of herbs in my usual herbal tea as I would not recognise any of the names in French!
May be learn the Spanish for "I'm pregnant" as waiters/waitresses might be able to help you make good food choices if needed.

I have always avoided salad & ice due to the water

Wherever you go in the EU, the tap water is as safe as it is in the UK.

I’ve been to Majorca when 20 weeks and there’s no need to avoid anything apart from the obvious. I can confirm I survived.