food questions - ok or not?

[Gataloca]

I would say that moderation and common sense are the key. The risk of listeria is in most of the cool cooked food, and on deli food.. like ham, and specially soft cheese.... However, I do eat ham, and pepperoni and salami, provided that it is well packed, or is from a reputable place.

About sushi, I have heard (from other forum) that it is safe to eat sushi when it comes from fish that has been previously frozen. Seems that the freezing the fish kills the parasite that it may have. But the problem is of course, how the fish have been handled on the restaurant after it got thawed, and how the remaining ingredients have been stored.

 

[Frenchy]

I join Gataloca about the listeria. It can exist in a lot of products like non pasteurized cheese, non dry meat (like ham, but not supposed in salami as it's dry), sea food or raw meat, and every vegetables should be cleaned properly. As soon as the product has been frozen or is properly cooked, or the cheese is with pasteurized milk, it's ok.

 

[starbucks2]

And listeria is also why deli foods (salami, ham etc) are also warned against in my home country so I avoided those when I was pregnant too. Maybe my home country is extra cautious but I still followed it as would have felt terrible if what I had eaten could have caused the loss of the baby. Having said all this, I still got terrible food poisoning at about 8 weeks along with our first one and even though I was violently ill, I still managed to keep the baby inside which was heartening!

 

[carang]

i guess my problem was that i was suffering from such terrible "every-bloody-minute-of-the-day" sickness (lost 20lbs in the first trimester) that if i thought i could stomach it, i ate it.

it actually got to the point where the doctor recommended that if i wanted junk food to go ahead and eat it as i just wasn't putting on any weight. (was only 5 lbs/2.2kg heavier the day i gave birth than the day i got pregnant!)

as for deli meats etc. i figured i'd never been sick eating it over the past 35 years, the chances of my getting sick while pregnant were pretty small.

for me, same went for drinking things like nestea & diet coke. water made me feel so sick that i had to have something with flavour and/or bubbles. the chinese women at the hospital freaked out when they saw me drink diet coke, but didn't think twice about their MSG-laden instant noodles.

 

[Gataloca]

Yes. I have also read that if you really have problem eating, even junk food is better than starving... But there is a difference between junk food, and dangerous food.

But I do agree with your about deli meat and stuff, as long as it is well packed and it comes from a reputable place. If you know that the ham has been seating there for long time, then better not take the risk.

Actually I haven't had much appetite myself either, so I just eat whatever I want (luckily I don't have craving, so mostly I eat healthy stuff).. I eat banana, watermelon, orange, salad (luckily my mom is not in HK either, otherwise, she would have freaked out!).

 

[FutureHKmom]

I don't think ginger is a problem. I drank lots of tea with ginger and lemon when I felt naseous. Fish - just avoid the types with high mercury content and eat in moderation. I did eat abalone during my pregnancy. As for shellfish like prawns and crab, I actually avoided it but it's because I have a history of ezcema and was worried that my baby would have bad ezcema also. Not eating the shellfish was actually more for me than it was for my baby though because I wanted to avoid using hydrocortisone cream during my pregnancy.