being careful about what you eat during pregnancy

After reading tonnes of information on the internet, i am well and truly the full bottle on what not to eat! :D However, i'm wondering how careful you really have to be?? One website suggested scrubbing fruit & veges with detergent. I make sure I wash my fruit & veges well under water, but i dont scrub with detergent, should i be doing this? Also does anyone else find it hard to find something to eat if you are out and about? If i'm at the shops with DP I worry about getting a sandwich etc because you dont know how well they wash their veges and how long they have been sitting there for. Am I just being paranoid?

Hayley

Hey Hayley: I have never heard of scrubbing vegies with detergent before, I think the chemicals in the detergent would do more harm then good. Just make sure you wash them with water really well before eating them. If you are really worried, you can peel most fruit/vegies before eating them.

You are right about pre-made sandwiches though. I would steer clear of these because it is not only whether they have washed the vegies, it is also how the food has been prepared. For example they may have used the same knife to cut deli meat, or they may have been sitting around all day.

I know it can all seem a bit confusing, but generally fresh is best, and if you eat anything hot, make sure it is piping hot.

xxooxx
Spring.

I tried not to worry too much, and would eat sandwiches out, but not with lunch meat in them. SAlad and cheese would be fine. I actually ended up eating most of what I shouldn't have just because I forgot, and all was well. So try not to get too worried or you'll stress out, just do your best ox

You can really do your head in with all these eating rules :lol:

Basically I steered clear of the "textbook" stuff - soft cheeses, deli meat, sushi and cold seafood. And buffets.

If I ate out I made sure it was piping hot as spring says.

General rule for me was if it looks fresh it's fine. I never heard of scrubbing veges with detergent - blech! - and even if I did I wouldn've done it :lol: That's just gross!

I agree with Flea :)

With pg #1 from the moment we decided to begin ttc I became quite strict with all my eating steering clear of everything non-fresh and not at a million degrees!! (I hated eating at my MIL because as far as DH can remember, she has never been great with food prep timing so you usually eat cold, over cooked food....blerr!! AND they don't believe in microwaves!!!) So each month I didn't get pg I kept thinking I could've had that seafood ****tail....LOL!!!

With this pg, I do what Flea suggested, stick to the text book stuff to avoid coz she is so right!! All these eating rules really can do your head in!!! But apart from the text book rules, I have been stacks more relaxed in my eating and have certainly enjoyed myself more, not over eating or eating stacks of bad stuff or anything like that, but I haven't felt paranoid everytime I go to put something in my mouth!!!!!!!!!

I think as long as your smart, which you definitely sound!!!! You will have no worries and still be able to enjoy yourself and remain relaxed. :)

Yeah I agree I wouldnt wash my vegies with detergent YUK I do wash with water but I feel that detergent would kinda defeat the purpose.

um I think as a general rule make sure its fresh and or piping hot, avoid processed meats and soft cheeses, etc the same as what Flea said,

if I eat while I am out shopping or something it is usually a pastie or something like that from a bakery I am not much of a sandwich girl so dont really have that prob hehehe.

I think it can get to much if you follow all the so called rules just do the best you can and avoid the key foods Flea sugested and you will be fine.

I think sometimes some of the suggestions that you read about are way too over the top. I havent heard of scrubbing fruit and veg with detergent.. i personally wouldnt do it, would make it taste like soap! I'd just wash it with water.

I wasnt super fussy about what I ate - if it looked and smelled ok, I usually ate it except for:
*sandwiches with meat in them - you dont know how fresh it is and how long its been there. I did make them myself a few times, but I didnt eat them that often.
*I dont eat seafood or sushi, so those things were easy to avoid.
*food from buffets which had been out and not heated/refrigerated for ages. which basically meant i only ate bread and fruit at my work Xmas party, because everything else was cheeses and meats and it was a hot day and nothing had been refrigerated for a few hours before we ate it.

I just try and avoid the big no-no's and am just selective of where I eat. I'd never scrub veggies and fruit with detergent yuck yuck lol. The main goal is to BE SENSIBLE if a place looks dodgey and they are coughing and sneezin on the food and theres dirt everywhere STEER CLEAR if they look very respectable inform them you are pregnant and they will usually ensure the cook knows so they can take extra care I even got a conglatulatory choccy!!

I think if the fruit and veg is Aussie produce, it should be fine.

But if you are going the extra length to be careful, anything imported might need a bit of a scrub with a brush under water, but i don't think the detergent is necessary. And peeling is a good idea.

I've lived in a third world country for about a year where everything needed to be scrubbed and the water used for washing food had to be boiled for 5 minutes (high altitude - long boiling times needed) and then peeled, so for me its almost routine. When a salmonella outbreak occured we had to scrub eggs in water and detergent before cracking them open, but the detergent needed to be only very very slight because the shells are porous and otherwise your eggs will taste like detergent. And even after all those precautions i still caught the parasite giardia from rinsing my toothbrush under the tap... so glad to be back in Australia for my pregnancy (for now, anyway).

Hi

Yuck on the detergent. Who want's all those chemicals in your belly?

I agree, commen sense rules.

I have been marginally naughty, like eating Chocolate mouse (raw egg white) but I prepared it my self.

I don't trust most places esp with salad and sangas much, but I do get past from a shop that I trust and it's kept in a bain maree, and isn't pipping hot, and everything is still kicking here.