Is Christmas ham ok to eat if your preggers???? I sure hope so!

[Razzberry]

Probably a silly question but can you eat Christmas Ham if you are preggers? I don't eat ham that comes in packets or from the deli, but am craving some christmas ham I can cut myself off the bone!

[Floweryfields]

I think the issue with deli stuff is how long it's been there and bacteria growth. Are you doing a baked ham? Because I think heated would be fine.

[MrsFabuloso]

Apparently, ham off the bone has to come from Australia, due to quarantine laws.
So ham off the bone, cut fresh after eating should be ok. I would only eat ot that day though - but it's your choice.
Listeria does grow and multiply at refrigeration levels (1 - 4 degrees Celsius)
If you want to be extra paranoid, then stick your leg of hammy goodness in the oven with a yummy glaze first and heat through then enjoy all of that yummy goodness!
At the end of the day, it is a personal choice by the individual mother. The risks are very real, they do exist, even if they are tiny. I ate ham from a regular deli that I always eat it from and no harm came to me. Maybe I was just lucky. It is all up to you what risks you choose to take. There is risk from eating anything really.

[Razzberry]

If I have to bake one to eat it then I will but was hoping just to buy a cold one

[MummyNaomi]

I ate it when I was pregnant. I asked my OB about what to eat / what not to eat and he basically said not to eat anything that I wasn't sure about re food preparation / storage - and to avoid things like chinese smorgasboards (eg where the food has been sitting 'warm' for a while). Interestingly he'd only come across 2 cases of listeria in his whole career - he's 60+. If you buy one, just be careful with your food storage. I guess if its going to take you a week or more to get through, perhaps cut it all up, and then freeze it into smaller portions to defrost as needed if you are worried (it defrosts just as nicely as if it was fresh)

[Lisa]

I ate it last Christmas but baked it first and then ate the properly stored cold leftovers. It was well worth the effort involved, which really was nothing more than scoring the skin and coating it in maple syrup and baking. Yummo!


(Sent from my phone, so I apologise if it makes no sense.)

[Rouge]

If you carve it fresh off the bone and it's been stored correctly you will be fine. (My ob at the time told me so)

[sloane]

i had a couple of small pieces of freshly cut, ham off the bone when i was PG with DS & everything was ok. i can't decide this xmas - but then we haven't finalised exactly what we're doing

[Bengal]

My MIL buys amazing ham and she is experienced in proper food handling so I will be enjoying some this year

[Miss E]

The reason why ham is one of the 'no no's for pregnancy is because it is cured by smoking rather than cooking with heat. This means that their is an increased risk of bacteria being present. But if you cook ham it is fine to heat. So you can eat ham on a pizza, or in a cooked dish without any worries.

Personally, at christmas I bake our leg of ham so that I can be confident that there is no issues.

[EsJay]

maybe i am of the minority, but i eat deli ham. i ask for it to be cut fresh and only eat it that day, but i still eat it, and i will still be eating my xmas ham, again i will cut it fresh and i of course know the storage procedures, but i plan to eat it, i probably wouldnt personally eat a ham from anyone elses house, but ill eat my own. i think what miss E said is the biggest issue apart from storage, so i guess its personal choice. if your not sure just bake it and store the baked ham appropriately. I might bake mine after a lovely feed of fresh cold ham too but i have to have that initial omg my xmas ham is here, im going to stuff myself silly, plate of ham... i wait all year for that expensive, delicious piece of piggy.

[MissM]

I always heated my deli meat just to be safe each to their own tho!