Raw Meat: Risk of contamination with coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis, and salmonella.
Deli Meat: Deli meats have been known to be contaminated with Listeria, which can cause miscarriage. If you are pregnant and you are considering eating deli meats, make certain that you reheat the meat until it is steaming.
Fish with Mercury: Fish that contain high levels of mercury should be avoided.
Smoked Seafood -Also could be contaminated with Listeria. Canned or shelf-safe smoked seafood is ok to eat.
Raw Shellfish: Raw shellfish pose concern for everybody and they should be avoided altogether during pregnancy.
Raw Eggs: Raw eggs should be avoided because of the potential exposure to salmonella.
Soft Cheeses: Imported soft cheeses may contain bacteria called Listeria. All soft non-imported cheeses made with pasteurized milk are safe to eat.
Pate: Could contain the bacteria Listeria. Canned pate, or shelf-safe meat spreads can be eaten.
Unwashed Vegetables: Yes, vegetables are safe to eat, so you still need to eat them. However, it is essential to make sure they are washed to avoid potential exposure to toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis may contaminate the soil where the vegetables were grown.
Are people crazy? Okay before I get to my gripes about this list, where listeria seems to be the dominant danger, lets look at toxoplasmosis. You can get this just from not cleaning your cutting board, so basically, I am at risk for this regardless of what I eat. I also can’t eat my cat’s poop. Dang.
Listeria is just another term for food poisoning. Do you know how many deli sandiwhiches, sushi, raw shellfish, and unwashed vegetables I have eaten in my life? I grew up in Hawaii, where sashimi is more common than deviled eggs. Do you know how many times I have gotten food poisoning? 2. In my whole life, I have had food poisoning twice. I have lived over a quarter of a century, ate all over the world from Egypt to Ecuador, and have been fine.
So what these people are telling me, is that I have to avoid getting food poisoning. Now how many people get this? The Center for Disease Control says:
In the United States, an estimated 2,500 persons become seriously ill with listeriosis each year. Of these, 500 die. Pregnant women are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis. About one-third of listeriosis cases happen during pregnancy.
As I stated before, about 6 million people will get pregnant this year. 1/3 of 2500 cases this year will be in pregnant women. So what is your chance of getting this disease? .013%. What are your chances of dying in a car accident? .015% So, you are more likely to die in an accident than get listeriosis. Now, you don’t want to partake in risky behavior. No driving while blindfolded, and no licking raw chicken. But do you never get into a car while pregnant? No, you just make good choices. Your favorite sushi restaurant where you know they get the fish fresh at the market might not pose as much risk as you think. You have a craving for your favorite brand of brie cheese? Yea, statistically you could cause your infant harm, but so do people who breath in the air in Los Angeles.
Just think about it. Don’t take all those dos and don’ts at face value. Research people. This is YOUR life and YOUR BABY’s LIFE.
2 Comments
May 30, 2008 at 2:02 am
[...] pstarr999 wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptRaw Meat: Risk of contamination with coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis, and salmonella. Deli Meat: Deli meats have been known to be contaminated with Listeria, which can cause miscarriage. If you are pregnant and you are considering eating deli meats, make certain that you reheat the meat until it is steaming. Fish with Mercury: Fish that contain high levels of mercury should be avoided. Smoked Seafood -Also could be contaminated with Listeria. Canned or shelf-safe smoked seafood is ok to eat. Raw Shellfish: Raw shellfish pose concern for everybody and they should be avoided altogether during pregnancy. Raw Eggs: Raw eggs should be avoided because of the potential exposure to salmonella. Soft Cheeses: Imported soft cheeses may contain bacteria called Listeria. All soft non-imported cheeses made with pasteurized milk are safe to eat. [...]
July 13, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I am an obstetrician in Hawaii, and I often hear from my patients they’ve been told to avoid all cheeses. As you wrote, the concern is over Listeria. Since most of the cheese sold in stores in the U.S. are pasteurized, there is a low risk of Listeria infection. Rather than giving up cheeses altogether, as some pregnant women do, I think it is safe to eat cheese because Listeria infection is so rare. Given the recent outbreaks of Salmonella from possibly tomatoes, salsa, or some vegetable, there is greater risk of infection from other everyday foods we eat. That being said, Salmonella doesn’t usually cause problems with pregnancy the way Listeria does.
http://www.advance-womens-care.com