Preventing foodborne illnesses and protecting yourself and you baby from other food risks during pregnancy is extremely important.
***Key Points***
Some types of food poisoning organisms can cause problems during pregnancy.
The risk can be minimised by good hygiene and food handling practices and avoiding high risk foods.
***Key Points***
***Listeria***
Listeria bacteria can contaminate food and cause listeriosis which is a flu-like infection.
In pregnancy this infection can be passed on to the baby and can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth.
Listeria infection is not a common problem and the risk can be reduced by following these tips:
- Eat freshly prepared foods where possible.
- Avoid refrigerated, ready to eat foods that may have been stored for long periods.
- Ensure good hygiene and clean utensils when preparing food.
- Thoroughly wash raw vegetables and fruit.
- Avoid foods such as pate, cold cooked chicken and deli meats such as ham and salami unless reheated to high temperature e.g., on a pizza.
- Avoid coleslaws, salads and fruit salads unless you are sure they have been freshly prepared.
- Avoid soft cheeses (e.g., brie, camembert, ricotta, feta, blue cheese) soft serve ice-cream and unpasteurised dairy products. Soft cheeses in cooked dishes are safe.
- Avoid uncooked or smoked seafood and pre-cooked prawns. Freshly cooked seafood and canned seafood is safe.
- Listeria is killed by thoroughly cooking food. Reheat foods to steaming hot.
***Listeria***
***Toxoplasmosis***
Toxoplasmosis is an infection that can cause brain and eye damage in the baby. It can be carried by raw meat and cats’ faeces.
Thoroughly cook meat, wash vegetables, wear rubber gloves if handling cat litter and wash hands after gardening or handling pets.
Good food handling practices
- Wash hands before preparing foods or eating
- Use separate, clean chopping boards to prevent cross contamination of raw and cooked foods
- Make sure cooked foods are thoroughly cooked
- Don’t leave foods to cool too long on the bench. Put them in the fridge as soon as they stop steaming
- Don’t eat food that is meant to be in the fridge if it has been left out for more than 2 hours
- Eat leftover foods within 24 hours and reheat foods to ‘steaming’ hot
- Keep the fridge clean and below 5 degrees
- Cover stored foods
- Thaw frozen food in fridge or microwave, not at room temperature
- Store raw meat below other foods so that there is no chance that it will drip onto them.
- Store eggs in the fridge.• Follow best before and use by dates and storage instructions. If in doubt throw it out.
***Toxoplasmosis***
***Salmonella***
Salmonella
Pregnant women are not at an increased risk of contracting salmonellosis, but in rare cases it may trigger miscarriage.
Salmonella can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, fever and headache.
It’s advisable to avoid foods that contain raw egg and always cook meat, chicken and eggs thoroughly.
It is recommended that you do not eat any type of sprout including alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts, onion sprouts, sunflower sprouts, clover sprouts, radish sprouts, snowpea sprouts, mung beans and soybean sprouts, whether raw or lightly cooked due to a risk of contamination.
***Salmonella***
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