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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Foods to avoid in pregnancy

12 replies

Motherof1and2dogs · 26/12/2024 16:38

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to see what people thought about eating the following while pregnant and if it's ok to eat in small quantities or if it should be 100% avoided....

Pate
Prawns
Smoked Salmon

I have so much left over and I'm dying to have a bit of each!

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dementedpixie · 26/12/2024 16:45

Pate is more to do with vitamin A content

Prawns are fine as long as you're not eating them raw

At the moment it's advised to heat smoked salmon before eating due to issues with listeria. You could always heat it and let it cool if you want to eat it cold

Harriet1989 · 26/12/2024 16:48

Would recommend the book 'Expecting Better' for research behind what to avoid during pregnancy, it's so good for being able to make your own mind up!

Pate - does it contain offal? Like liver? If so the reason for not eating this is that it contains vitamin A / retinol. Your baby can't process this so it's considered harmful - though I don't know how high the quantities would be. For this reason I decided to avoid..

But pate is also one of the foods which has a higher chance of listeria so was a double whammy for me but the listeria risk is fairly low level - just would be more careful if it's been sat out for a few hours!

Prawns - no reason to avoid, usual making sure they're cooked through, stored correctly, in date but otherwise no reason not to

Smoked salmon - is usually on a 'dont eat ' list Inc NHS for the listeria reason.

Listeria is a risk for everyone - but pregnant people, babies, elderly and immunocompromised people would struggle more with the effects. It's one I sort of feel it's worth being generally slightly more cautious about but not going crazy - make sure food is in date, stored correctly and if possible cooked (e.g. salami on a pizza). It's not common and but the effects can be pretty horrible

It's so personal but I've taken the approach that if I know where the foods from, where it's been stored etc I'm okay with it but if it's say at a buffet or past it's sell-by I'm leaving it!

EllieRosesMammy · 26/12/2024 16:57

A small amount of anything is unlikely to do any harm but for up to date advice check the NHS website :)

MrsS11 · 26/12/2024 19:24

Prawns not an issue but the others are a food poisoning risk so it's not really about quantity. I've had food poisoning when pregnant (from a boots prawn sandwich) and it's utterly grim 🤢 your immune system is so weakened by pregnancy. So personally I'm not taking any risks, obviously what you eat is 100% your choice!

CandyCane457 · 26/12/2024 21:45

It’s so hard to know isn’t it- I was reading a few bits online about food in pregnancy and it said you should only have max 3 cups of green tea a day. I have about 5 and I’m not sure whether to pay attention to that or not!

Goldpanther · 26/12/2024 23:01

It's personal choice whether you eat it. I think more cases of listeria are from unwashed fruit and veg than the foods you have listed. I certainly don't wash fruit/veg so didn't worry about avoiding certain foods. My midwife was very pragmatic and said if I didn't worry about it before being pregnant not to worry about it. But I appreciate that may be seen as risky by some.

remaininghopeful23 · 27/12/2024 00:11

Prawns - no need to avoid. Pate - I'd be wary of the vitamin A content but is very little going to do damage? Probably not. Smoked salmon - same risk of listeria as a lot of every day items you come across. If you know it's fresh and been stored correctly you might feel OK to chance a small bit. I think it's a personal preference.

remaininghopeful23 · 27/12/2024 00:13

CandyCane457 · 26/12/2024 21:45

It’s so hard to know isn’t it- I was reading a few bits online about food in pregnancy and it said you should only have max 3 cups of green tea a day. I have about 5 and I’m not sure whether to pay attention to that or not!

You probably already know this so my apologies if you do, it's just that I didn't know so wished someone had told me. The green tea thing is due to high caffeine content. Not quite as much as coffee but still, enough. Again, ignore me if this is old news😂

CandyCane457 · 27/12/2024 00:16

@remaininghopeful23 no thank you so much for that! That’s genuinely really helpful and made me realise I should pay attention to that rule, the caffeine aspect didn’t cross my mind, thought there must have been some weird herb in it, or someone was just being dramatic about it! Thank you!

wateringcanface · 27/12/2024 11:27

I've eaten prawns.

I've had cooked smoked salmon (not as good but still nice)

I would unfortunately avoid pate (i love pate)

I have lots of cured meats, I have frozen them and defrosted...in two minds about whether to go for it?

Whattochoose1 · 27/12/2024 20:19

The only one I've avoided this time is pate - prawns and smoked salmon I've eaten throughout, small listeria risk was outweighed by my craving for salmon.

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