HELP! I ate unpasteurised beef while pregnant and now I'm panicking

[MMR96]

Hi
So I'm really concerned I read that peperamis we're fine so yesterday I bought and ate a load of peperami products including the beef products and I find out today that you can't eat the beef products while pregnant and now I'm really panicking and I'm not sure want to do! I have no signs that something is wrong but I'm worried that something could happe.

Please help me!

Don't worry about it. A lot of pregnant people don't even read the lists of what you're not supposed to have. Unless you feel sick you'll be fine.

Where does it say not to eat beef peperami? Can you link to the product? Does it say on it that its unpasteurised?

Where did you see that you can’t eat them?

Honestly I ate everything during pregancy. Lists are a 'new" thing. And other countries don't have them and have perfectly healthy babies.

Assuming you're in the UK, it isn't on the list of foods to avoid published by the NHS. When you Google it throws up lots of American sites where the advice is much more cautious because their food safety standards aren't as stringent as ours.

Also is beef even capable of being pasteurised? Obviously dairy is, but I've never heard of pasteurised meat

It's only a problem if you get sick, I.e. food poisoning, from it which obviously you would know about. Its fine. You and baby are fine. Breath.

@maddy68

Honestly I ate everything during pregancy. Lists are a 'new" thing. And other countries don't have them and have perfectly healthy babies.

List are not 'new'. Other countries have their own lists

@squee123

Also is beef even capable of being pasteurised? Obviously dairy is, but I've never heard of pasteurised meat

Just means cooked rather than cured

If you’re in the U.K. there’s zero point in stressing about random lists.

Just use the NHS one and make your choices from there.

If you read the food advice for pregnancy any other western European nation with good health care, they are all different!

This leads me to the conclusion that the risk of most foods during pregnancy is very small indeed to the point it may be irrelevant in the next country.

So if you have already eaten something thats on the uk list, its really not worth the stress of worrying about it.

Just keep things to a minimum going forward.

The only thing i would really really avoid is liver because thats the one that seems to be most universal.

I think the guilt and absolutionist thinking on this isnt helpful and doesn't stop problems. Be careful but if you fuck up its not the end of the world and you and your baby will almost certainly be fine.

You only need to worry if you get food poisoning from it, which is extremely unlikely. Do some breathing exercises till you feel calm - stress is bad for babies

@SheWoreYellow

Where did you see that you can’t eat them?

Hi it's on the peperami website

www.peperami.tv/question-time/

@squee123

Also is beef even capable of being pasteurised? Obviously dairy is, but I've never heard of pasteurised meat

It says on the website

www.peperami.tv/question-time/

@dementedpixie

Where does it say not to eat beef peperami? Can you link to the product? Does it say on it that its unpasteurised?

Here's the link x

www.peperami.tv/question-time/

If it was yesterday, and you feel fine, then it’s fine. The point of the lists is that some things are very slightly more likely to make you ill, so if you are risk-averse you can avoid them in pregnancy if you choose to. If you already ate it, and didn’t get ill, there is absolutely no problem.

It'll be because its cured rather than cooked and that's what you're supposed to be careful of in pregnancy. You could freeze them for a few days before eating them and that makes them safer to eat.

And in the meantime I wouldn't worry about the ones you have eaten

I had GD in my pregnancies and peperami were one of my go to snacks when on the go. I ate a lot of them, no I’ll effects from them.

@dementedpixie

It'll be because its cured rather than cooked and that's what you're supposed to be careful of in pregnancy. You could freeze them for a few days before eating them and that makes them safer to eat.

So if I don't have any symptoms I'm fine? Thank you

I’m pretty sure the unpasteurised bit only refers to the products containing cheeses. The beef peperami is on the no list because it’s cured not cooked. The standard pork product is cooked. Curing only increases the risk of food poisoning and will let things like tape worm stay alive which is why it’s advised against.

But you’ve had it now and peparami isn’t really in the business of making their customers ill so I wouldn’t sweat it. Loads of people eat stuff all the time that they later realise they weren’t supposed to eat. Generally the risks are very very small but the approach with pregnant women is to advise maximum caution at all times just in case.

Not an hcp but I think cured meats are on the list due to potential listeria risk. I wouldn’t have any more but for your baby to be harmed you would have to have caught listeria, which doesn’t sound very likely.

Try just to forget about it op. There are so many things to remember not to do that I honestly think every pg woman will have forgotten one or two. I put a little skin cream on my arm when I was pg, forgetting momentarily I was pg and it had active ingredients. My dc was absolutely fine and I’m sure yours will be too