Now that you’re pregnant you need to be more careful about what you eat to protect yourself and your baby from common toxins and bacteria in foods that could cause problems in the pregnancy or damage to the fetus. To avoid them you’ll want to follow particularly high standards of food hygiene and cut out certain foods from your diet.
Listeria, salmonella, E.coli and other bacteria
Listeriosis can cause stillbirth, miscarriage, or severe illness in newborn babies while other bacteria can cause nasty food poisoning that could harm both you and your baby. You’ll need to avoid:
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Raw or partially cooked eggs – can carry salmonella, you should cook eggs until the yoke is hard and avoid raw egg products such as home-made mayonnaise (the shop bought variety will be pasteurised and therefore fine). If you’re making a recipe using raw eggs then don’t test the uncooked mixture
- Unpasteurised dairy products, including goat’s milk and cheese
- Raw meat – take particular care when handling raw meat. Raw meat shouldn’t come into contact with other foods in the fridge or when being prepared. It may help to use separate chopping boards and knives for meat and veg, or avoid using wood and plastic chopping boards. Always wash your hands well after handling raw meat and make sure you cook all meat right through.
- Raw fish – sushi and sashimi are off the menu. Just as with raw meat, make sure you cook all fish and shellfish thoroughly and handle the raw foods with care.
- Soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert and blue-veined or mouldy cheeses like stilton or Gorgonzola. Hard cheeses and cottage cheese are fine.
- Any kind of pâté, not just meat paté
- Pre-prepared or reheated meals - make sure these are piping hot throughout or avoid altogether
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Unwashed raw fruit and vegetables - can be contaminated with toxoplasmosis
Other potentially dangerous foods
It's not just germs that can harm your baby, you should also avoid the following:
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Peanuts and peanut products, such as peanut butter, peanut oil etc. – to reduce the risk of your child developing a serious peanut allergy it’s best to avoid these during pregnancy
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Liver and liver products – are high in vitamin A, which you need to be careful not to get too much of during pregnancy as in high levels it can harm your baby
- Shark, marlin and swordfish – these fish can carry high levels of mercury which can inhibit development of your baby’s nervous system
General food hygiene
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Wash vegetables carefully to remove the earth from them and lower the risk of toxoplasmosis and peel and top vegetables such as carrots before eating them
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Be scrupulous about cleanliness in the kitchen, particularly of food preparation surfaces and the cloths or sponges you wipe them with
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Don’t thaw frozen foods at room temperature, either thaw in the fridge or in a bowl of cold water that’s changed frequently
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Don’t leave prepared foods standing out even when cooked, transfer them to the fridge
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Choose the freshest and best stored produce and other foods that you can find in the shops, particularly with meat and fish
- Wear gloves for gardening or be particularly careful about cleaning them of any soil residue afterwards
