Eating cold meat

[Hann376]

The guidance says not to eat cold deli meats like chicken when pregnant - is it ok to eat cold cooked chicken that you’ve cooked yourself at home or do you need to reheat it?

Does the guidance really say that? If so then no one pregnant should be eating a sandwich?! Seems a bit far fetched.

I wouldn't (and didn't) bat an eyelid at eating cold cooked chicken!

That used to be the guidance in the states and Australia but not in the UK last time I was pregnant (a few years ago now).

AFAIK it's OK to eat cold meats, just not cold cured meats lile salami and Parma ham unless heated

Did you read that on a website from another country? As they don't always apply.

The NHS guide is really good: https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/

Chicken meat in sandwiches from supermarket, greggs, sandwich shop etc is fine. You just can't have uncooked, cured etc meat like prosciutto.

Aaaaaabsolutely fine.

I’d have it cold, not re-heated.

Chicken isn't a "deli" meat.

What they recommend to avoid is salami, pepperoni, chorizo and prosciutto, not turkey, chicken and ham

No food is inherently harmful to the foetus. Except liver (excess vitamin A can be damaging). And obviously large quantities of alcohol if you classify that as a food stuff.

So, the guidelines are there for food that carries a higher risk of food poisoning. Eg shellfish, sushi, deli meats (in countries where food hygiene is not as strict)
To avoid tying yourself in knots think about the underlying reason for the restrictions. Eg unpasteurized cheese. Yes, it might cause food poisoning. Might. But here unpasteurized cheese is artisanal and top quality and better for you than eg Easy Singles

Furthermore, there have been recent outbreaks of listeria in food like hummus/cucumber sticks. Which are not advised against. So the whole thing really is nonsense