Salads in pregnancy

[MAY324]

Hello!
Im sure this will probably sound a bit crazy to people but it’s our first baby and I’ve never done this before 🙈
i read online that salads can have listeria in them so have avoided them so far! However it’s getting warmer and I can’t eat soup for lunch for much longer 😂
Am I able to make a salad the night before and eat it in work the next day? If it’s chicken is that ok too? How do I make sure it doesn’t have any germs on it?
I do know this probably sounds nuts 😂 but googling only gets you so far!

Of course you can have salads, just ensure you wash your vegetables as normal and keep it in the fridge until you plan to eat it. Obviously make sure the chicken in in date and fully cooked, all common sense stuff.

Yeah all of this. I eat salad pretty much daily for lunch which I continued throughout pregnancy. Just ensure it’s all washed thoroughly and stored properly until ready to eat.

I ate two whole iceberg lettuces yesterday. I did wash them, which I don't normally do tbh!!

Unrelated to your question, but have you tried cold soups like gazpacho or salmorejo?

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
Fruits, vegetables and salads. Be careful with fruits, vegetables and salads as they can have soil on them, which can make you unwell.
Make sure to thoroughly wash all fruits, vegetables and salad ingredients.

When I was pregnant abroad, the advice was to avoid:

• pre-prepared vegetables and salads
• pre-cut fruit

I read that as home washed/prepared salads are fine, but not pre-packaged ones and especially not from salad bars.

Yes, salads are fine, but you have to make sure you wash them well (even the one that says already washed).
I never eat salad in the restaurant when pregnant...don't trust that they washed well, plus due to poor storage, often raw meat liquid dripping can be found on them (this is causing a lot of food poisoning). But if you make them at home, you wash them with cold water and it will be ok.

Thank you so much everyone! I know I sound very paranoid but pregnancy is a mine field 😂 already excited to eat some salad now!

It’s really not a minefield. Just follow NHS advice, even that is very over cautious. You’re higher risk getting in a car than eating anything!