Subway - okay or not?

[tisonlymeagain]

I know the advice is to avoid deli meats and Subway say chicken, meatballs, steak etc for pregnant women but I am so craving an Italian BMT

I've seen some people say it's fine, it's all frozen but just read that the deli meats arrive fresh, not frozen.

Do you/did you/would you eat it when pregnant?

I think it's very US centric advice as we were never warned about it. I'm not entirely sure what we'd have done if we dropped deli meats from our diet during pregnancy.

Bread, pickled cucumber and a slice of ham with mustard is our normal breakfast.

Of course it’s fine! NHS advice is that you don’t need to exclude deli meats at all.

I'm confused - I read on the NHS website that you should freeze it or cook salami etc

Really? Just have one. The advice is getting ridiculous. It'll come to a point where you can't eat anything. Stop being ridiculous and go get the sandwich.

I never even thought twice about the loads of subways I ate when pregnant!

NHS Just says to be cautious, not to cut them out. I'm sure subway sandwiches are perfectly fine.

The smell used to turn my stomach when I was pregnant but I could polish off a foot long meatball sub in seconds. Go for it, OP!

You can actually eat most things. I even had steak near the end!

I know the advice is to avoid deli meats

Is it? Where does it tell you that?

I've had quite a few subways in pregnancy. Nothing has happened...yet

You could avoid literally anything uncooked for fear it might give you food poisoning - the advice and the way people are interpreting it is getting a bit silly. Your probably more likely to get Ecoli from a cucumber or salad leaf than food poisoning from a slice of smoked or cured salami - but of course they don’t tell you to avoid your 5 a day because the extra vitamins are worth the risk it seems 🤷‍♀️

I worked in subway as a student, all the meat is frozen on arrival into the shop so should be absolutely fine to eat when pregnant.

In the UK deli meats / fish from the supermarkets / cash and carries that big stores use tend to be frozen first to kill off bacteria. The issue is that in the US (and Japan) they don’t freeze but tend to do other stuff which is not as effective - which is why Listeria is a bigger problem there than the UK / Europe.

@PuffHuffle5 If you're unsure...

Thanks @owlofathena that's good to know!

@PuffHuffle5 - No you are not more likely to get Listeria or Salmonella from uncooked fruit veg than meat / eggs. What a ridiculous comment to make. Yes there is a small risk associated with processed salads but the risk associated with unfrozen deli meats and some types of cheese is far, far higher

@Teddybear45 freezing ANY food does not kill bacteria. All it does is prolong shelf life and reduce wastage

Shoot me now but I even had the odd bit of Brie and pate when I was pregnant!!

I had fresh eggs from the farm (not lion-stamped) and I had the odd very small glass of wine/champagne.

Anyway you'll be fine OP. I think the point of the advice is to use common sense. The issue with deli meats I imagine is that they are generally sitting around for a while.

Try not to stress. If you really don't want to "risk" it then I would perhaps make your own at home with supermarket meats that have been pre-packaged,

We talked about this on our Facebook group. Just have it toasted then it's cooked.

NHS Advice is that many cold meats, such as salami, prosciutto, chorizo and pepperoni, are not cooked, they're just cured and fermented. This means there's a risk they contain toxoplasmosis-causing parasites and they offer instructions of how to ensure these are safe.

I've included the link below:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/foods-to-avoid-pregnant/

This has been my go-to during pregnancy but I've also taken a lot with a pinch of salt. If we listened to all the advice we'd never eat anything and it changes so often. I have avoided the above though - unless we are eating chorizo in pasta for example, which is cooked through!

Hope this helps x

"s alt" should literally have just read as salt and not been amended as above! I think I've accidentally stumbled across an acronym.

I could only stomach BMTs with tons of pickles and olives for a good portion of my pregnancy! Dd came out absolutely fine. Have one! It’ll drive you mad thinking about it and not eating one.

My midwife told me not to eat deli meat and I've seen the same advice on plenty of websites. The risk is probably tiny but it's up to you to decide whether you want to take the chance. Personally I'm not risking it but that might just be "first timer anxiety".

It’s fine, eat what you want.

It's fine. Further down the link a PP posted;

'Many cold meats, such as salami, prosciutto, chorizo and pepperoni, are not cooked, they're just cured and fermented. This means there's a risk they contain toxoplasmosis-causing parasites.
It's best to check the instructions on the pack to see whether the product is ready to eat or needs cooking first.
For ready-to-eat meats, you can reduce any risk from parasites by freezing cured or fermented meats for 4 days at home before you eat them. Freezing kills most parasites and makes the meat safer to eat.'

The meat in Subway is bought in frozen. Enjoy! I had a few Spicy Italians while pregnant, so good.

Thanks all. I had my Italian BMT with jalapenos and southwest chipotle sauce - topped off with a fit of the hiccups from all the spice, but it was YUM!