What food should I avoid?
While you’re pregnant your
immune system functions at a slightly lower level than normal, so you can be at
risk from infections passed on through food.
If you realize you’ve accidentally
eaten anything namechecked here, don’t panic – the risks are small, but it is
best to avoid these foods while pregnant.
Cheese
Some cheeses carry the risk of listeria, a bacteria that can cause serious problems for you and
your baby. Avoid mold-ripened soft cheeses such Brie and Camembert, and
blue-veined cheeses, such as Stilton (they can be eaten if they’ve been
thoroughly cooked). You should also avoid cheese from unpasturized sheep or
goats’ milk. Hard cheeses and soft processed cheeses, such as cottage cheese,
cream cheese and cheese spreads, are fine to eat.
Fish
Some types of fish can contain
high levels of mercury, which may affect the development of your baby’s nervous
system. Avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, marlin, grouper, orange roughy
and tilefish; limit your consumption of saltwater bass, halibut and Maine lobster. While albacore
tuna is high in mercury and should be avoided, it is safe to eat light tuna
although you should limit it to one fresh steak or two cans a week. Fish with the
lowest mercury levels include pollock, haddock, hake, salmon tilapia and
sardines. Avoid sushi that contains raw fish, and raw or undercooked shellfish
such as oysters, mussels, cold prawns and crab.
Milk
Milk can contain listeria or toxoplasmosis, a blood infection that can cause premature birth, low
birthweight, jaundice and eye problems. Pasteurization kills the bacteria that
causes listeria and toxoplasmosis, so avoid unpasteurized milk of any kind. Ice
cream can also cause listeria, so avoid homemade ice cream or soft-whipped ice
cream from machines. You can eat ice cream from cartons.
Eggs
These can contain salmonella,
so avoid undercooked or raw eggs – this includes homemade mayonnaise made with
raw egg (store-bought is fine, but restaurants often make homemade mayonnaise
with raw egg, so always ask first), and mousses made with raw egg. You can eat
well-cooked eggs (hard-boiled).
Meat
Meat can cause toxoplasmosis,
listeria and salmonella if it hasn’t been cooked properly. Avoid raw or
undercooked meat (eat your steaks well done for the next nine months and avoid
smoked and deli meats) and ready-cooked poultry unless it has been thoroughly
reheated. You can eat meat and poultry that has been cooked thoroughly all the
way through.
Liver contains high-levels of
the retinol form of vitamin A, which can be harmful to your developing baby, so
steer clear of it. Some fish oil supplements can contain liver of fish, so
check the ingredients first.
Salads
These can carry listeria or
toxoplasmosis if they haven’t been washed properly. Avoid packaged salads
unless you wash them first.
Cook-chill foods
Convenience foods can carry the
risk of listeria, so avoid them unless heated until piping hot.
Peanuts
If you or your partner has a
peanut allergy or any other allergy such as eczema or asthma, or a family
history of these, avoid eating peanuts or peanut products (for example, peanut
butter and some Chinese dishes, such as Satay chicken). You should also be
cautious of store-bought cupcakes, cakes and muffins, since these may have been
prepared alongside cakes containing peanuts even if they don’t include them as
an ingredient. Any other type of nuts is fine.
Caffeine
This has been associated with an
increased risk of miscarriage. Try to limit your caffeine consumption to 300mg a day max – that’s roughly three cups
of standard coffee, six cups of tea or eight cans of cola. Bear in mind too
that many energy drinks contain caffeine, and that it’s in chocolate too.