No soft serve or thick shakes as its the ice cream sitting in those barrels and they arent cleaned daily..mega listeria right there...Any pre packed salads, like the chicken salad is a NO NO , as is anything with Lettuce on it as it sits in a container accumulating germies too....

The thickshake and icecream machines are cleaned daily, usually also cleaned again (in a non-24hour store) before they are filled again before opening. Also the mix is changed regularly throughout the day if they are not turning it over quick enough. Hence why often thickshakes aren't available at peak times.
They are also disinfected when they are cleaned. And are a refridgerated unit. The actual issue with soft serve ice creams is that they aren't frozen at the correct temperature.

The issue with lettuce is again not that is sits around. It doesn't. It is refridgerated and actually CLEANER than the lettuce you use at home, as it is pre-washed at preperation in a chlorine solution.
The REAL issue with lettuce, as with all salads, rices, and high water content foods that are NOT heat treated, is that for bacteria to grow you need MOISTURE - water. So the lettuce being made up of upwards 75% water, this is where the germs breed should anything become contaminated.
This is why most people who get food poisoning claim it is from meat, when it is most likely from the rice or salad they ate with their vindaloo.


I think with filet o fish you just have to watch what other high mercury fish you eat that week aswell as it is made from Hake. Otherwise only other thing i steer clear of is soft serve.. in saying that i was a little naughty when pregnant with DS and had 2 soft serve cones.
The MacDonald's Fillet of Fish is made from New Zealand Hoki Fillets.
Hoki is a white fleshed, low mercury fish, which you could eat every day with no accumulation risk. It is not hake, not a danger during pregnancy.
Hake itself is also not a high risk fish during pregnancy, again it is a white fleshed fsh, not classed as an oily or high mercury fish.


I think the reason with the lettuce is because it is pre packaged, same as for subway. Salads are fine if made at home because you know its fresh but pre packaged listeria can grown in it.
I was wondering about the sauces, like the tartare, mayos at maccas? I've been staying away from them because you can't have raw egg during pregnancy and wasn't sure if they were egg free, does anyone know?

I eat Cheeseburgers and I eat a McChicken but I ask for no salad no mayo and put on my own mayo (the praise light one has no egg)

Listeria can grow in your lettuce at home the same as it can anywhere else. And most likely it actually does. Food poisoning occurs at home almost as often as it occurs in restaurants, because people tend to think it can't because they know everything is fresh. Most cross contamination occurs in the home.
The other risk is that as their lettuce is stored prepared (ie cut) they increase the risk of bacterial growth simply by exposing more surface area of the product to the air. This increases the opportunity and habitat for bacterial growth. This is why you should ask for freshly cut cold meats at a deli - and not eat the ones that sit all stacked up presliced. It is between these slices that the bacteria grow exponentially.

The sauces from McDonald's and every other fast food chain are NOT made from eggs. Nor are most of the mayonaises you buy from the supermarket. Hence they are perfectly safe to eat during pregnancy as tomato sauce.
The only mayonaisses that have egg in them are also usually heat treated anyway, so the egg is technically 'cooked', but they are labelled as "Whole Egg" or "Egg" Mayonaise on the front of the jar and the fact they contain egg is used as a marketing thing so they let you know.


The issue with lettuce and salads from fast food is the risk of cross contamination because the the people working in them don't wash their hands often enough, do not follow the procedures they should, or wear plastic gloves while preparing food. Cross contamination occurs more often when preperation staff wear plastic gloves as they cannot feel when their hands are dirty, and also fall into the false belief that plastic gloves are cleaner and safer than their bare hands, which is false. They aren't changed often enough and by extension, the contamination occurs.


HTH clear up some confusion.