Fruit juice/cut fruit and listeria- sanity check

[Bumblingonby]

Hi all, I'm 24 weeks and have followed all nhs food advice. I recently saw from a lot of US and Australian websites (but only one UK one, Philips) that they warn not to eat pre cut fruit like melon or any fresh unpasteurised supermarket/cafe juice as it has a risk of listeria, so this is clearly the advice in those countries- the nhs listeria page also says these are a risk for listeriosis and that listeria is serious for pregnancy, but they don't specifically say for pregnant people to avoid.

I eat/drink out a lot, and have been eating precut melon lots too from m&s near my work. I'm now worried I should have been checking juice in mocktails is pasteurised or that I shouldn't have been drinking supermarket smoothies!

Most pregnant people in the UK aren't avoiding these things, right? Am I in a tizzy for nothing?

This is the first I’ve heard of it. As my DS is sound asleep in his nursery I can attest that my ignorance did no harm! If you’re worried do what feels right for you.

The Listeriosis NHS website states the following with reference to pregnancy (note it doesn’t include pre prepared fruit or sandwiches):

Foods to avoid if you're at risk

If you're pregnant or have a weakened immune system, you should avoid eating ready-to-eat cold-smoked or cured fish products, such as smoked salmon or gravlax (unless cooked until steaming hot).

If you're pregnant, you should also avoid eating other foods that have the highest risk of causing listeriosis.

These include:

some soft cheeses (including brie and camembert) – unless cooked until steaming hot
all types of pâté – including vegetable pâté
unpasteurised milk or dairy products
any undercooked food
If you're pregnant, you should also avoid close contact with farm animals that are giving birth or have recently given birth.

I did avoid pre-packaged fruit in pregnancy. But, for the sake of honesty (trigger warning) I did have a diagnosis of anxiety in my 2nd pregnancy because I lost my 1st. And unfortunately I know someone who lost their baby to toxoplasmosis and they were told it could have been from a piece of fruit or salad they had eaten. So I tried to be rational about it but in my mind avoiding a few foods for a few months was worth the sacrifice.

Juice in mocktails in the UK is most likely pasteurised so I wouldn't worry too much around that though.

The NHS advice is sound and good, and reliable.

Things like soft serve ice cream don't have warnings in this country but do in others. But for cut fruit, it's never been part of the NHS advice so perhaps the Food Hygiene inspections have different standards than in , for example, Australia where there might be less uniform practice (and it's far far hotter so more chance for bacteria).

I spent part of my pregnancy in France and heard so many times (English) people say 'oh, they're not as bothered by unpasteurised cheese in France' but that is not true. Bagged salad has a tiny risk but it really is minuscule so don't fret.

Thanks so much for your answers. I do wish the nhs addressed this stuff even if to say "other countries advise against this but we dont" as its quite alarming thinking you have it all squared and worrying that you don't when you find stuff like this- I try to ensure that I don't buy salads out (though for whole of first trimester u didn't know shop sandwiches were a risk and ate loads) and that any garnishes in drinks or food are washed in restaurants but to be honest I find it all exhausting.

Shop sandwiches are not a risk so I don't know where it says they are!

The UK has some of the best food legislation in the world.
The UK legislation was used as the basis for the European regs.
We have a cooler climate and different water systems than other countries, which affects the risk profile for foods prepared in other countries, hence the differences.

Follow the NHS guidance & do your best not to look for additional things to worry about - easier said than done I know.

Pregnant people?

you could just swap the cut fruit for a banana to save worrying about it. I don’t think it’s an unreasonable worry, but at the same time, the chances of problems resulting from it are low. But eliminated by switching to banana

I don't think iv ever seen unpasteurised juice in a UK supermarket and even farm shop ones seem to be pasteurised. Best thing to do is follow NHS website and not Google other things.

Fruit and salads you could prepare at home if you're worried.

Sandwiches are fine - I'v been fed them in hospital whilst pregnant - as long as the filling is okay.

I think it's okay to be mindful but just know that most things are absolutely safe in the UK.

Fresh orange juices are labelled as unpasteurised (at least the m&s ones are). Thanks all, I'm happy to replace with home made for peace of mind. More concerned with what I've already had (I know, horse bolted etc). I'm also curious as to how careful others are with things like salads and garnishes in restaurants? I read that sprouts and cress are a major source of listeria and have eaten loads of those as they are sprinkled on sandwiches at my local cafe. I take tge point about food standards here and feel I gave to trust the process or I'll go crazy, but it's hard to when there's so much conflicting advice, especially about something like listeria for which you can't test easily like with toxo, and there are usually no symptoms until its too late.

I think each country bases their guidelines on their climate and health standards, like others have said we're very lucky in the UK, especially this time of year, that things are unlikely to be sat in the sun and warming up then cooling down etc. I eat a huge amount of precut fruit at the mo and I'm pregnant, I pretty much lived on watermelon fingers during my first pregnancy and all ok. I would avoid what the NHS says to avoid and if you travel to another country during your pregnancy also follow that country's guidelines. I appreciate it is a worrying time, lots of information to digest but try and stick to NHS guidelines otherwise I find it just makes my anxiety worse when I go down the rabbit hole of Google!

I ate pre cut fruit from the M&S next to my work. Wasn't aware of that being an issue. I avoided unpasteurised juice though. I relaxed after reading the book Expecting Better.

I actually didn't even realise juice could be unpasteurised or pasteurised 👀 I thought that was a milk only process

I think I’ve been particularly careful in comparison to my wider social group, and I had no idea juice could be pasteurised or not!
most people I know, friends family and colleagues had the odd glass of wine, or a drag of a cigarette, ate at a dodgy takeaway, or decided a medium rare steak was fine. I don’t think most of them remembered to check on things being pasteurised or whatever.

I’m just avoiding unpasteurised dairy, and raw/cured/smoked meats and fish.
I wash my veg now which I never used to. That’s about it! I didn’t know about cut fruit either, though I do judge it, and prepackaged sandwiches on how fresh they look, and don’t get them if I’m not convinced they look their best.