Do Japanese Women Eat Sushi, Do French Women Eat Soft Cheese/Pate

[fionas]

All the 'rules' about what you can and can't eat when you're pregnant really used to give me the irrits and DP's standard response used to be "yep, it's all rubbish, I bet Japanese women carry on eating sushi and I bet French women carry on eating their brie and pate."

I'm not trying to encourage people to break the 'rules', I'm just curious as to whether people actually know whether that's the case. Anyone been pregnant in those countries and/or is aware of their guidelines?

[Shanti]

It's a good question.

I've avoided ALL sushi and cold meats (ie salami) and soft cheeses/pate.

I think like in Japan, they make their own Sushi in their homes which is fine to do as long as you use proper hygiene you know? Whereas if you buy it outside your home you have no control over who is preparing the food and what happens to it.
Sushi is soooo risky for bacteria.
I wonder however how the Germans etc eat heaps of cold Salami's? they eat things like that daily over there!!! do they make Salami in their house?? maybe they do.

I'm so glad we can eat Jarlsberg cheese (considered a hard cheese) it's so yummy!!

[Visitor3]

Not sure about French and Japanese women but my friend is Italian (living in Melbourne)and she didn't know the "rules" when she was pregnant so for the first 3 months of her pregnancy she HAD to have a salami and cheese sandwich (not toasted). Then she found out the "rules" and she freaked out and went to docs for advice/checkup etc and her baby is fine. Oh and today she told me she ate RUNNY eggs! She didn't even know about the runny egg thing until I told her TODAY and her son is 3 AND A HALF ! She's also got a 7 month old daughter who is also perfect.

I don't know? Sometimes I think we can be overinformed you know?

[danniellabella]

I think it's wise to be careful, but by the same token, many of the "rules" weren't around when our mothers and grandmothers were pregnant and most of us turned out just fine! I don't think it's necessary to be anal about the "do's and don't's). I've heard that by eating some of the things that are normally considered "no no's" it can actually help avoid a child getting allergies to things. For example, I saw something the other day that a new study has found that by eating things like nuts during pregnancy and introducing small amounts from the age of 4 months instead of waiting until a child is 5 years old it decreases the risk of allergy. However, I'm not a doctor and I think that every mother and mother to be needs to make informed choices for themselves and their child. What is ok for some is not ok for others.

[Ginger]

my friend who is greek constantly ate fetta when pg. she said she just couldn't avoid it, and for the record, her dd is fine.
what's the runny egg thing? i've been eating runny eggs!

[Kaydee]

Yes, it's wise to be careful - but i find "these days" people are too obsessive about this issue and the actual stress of analysing everything you eat can be more harm than what you put in your mouth.

I avoided soft cheese, raw egg, penuts and a couple of othere things. I live in Germany and i love salami - I only had it on rare occasions throughout my pregnancy as I was aware it was to be avoided.

[mrsmac]

I agree with the too obsessive, when i had DD one they didn't have half of these rules.
As someone pointed out, they do eat those things in France and Japan etc, one of the guys at work tried to stop me eating calamari and octopus when I was pg and as a greek friend said the women in greek villages have been eating it when pg for centuries.

[Kaydee]

I think like in Japan, they make their own Sushi in their homes which is fine to do as long as you use proper hygiene you know? Whereas if you buy it outside your home you have no control over who is preparing the food and what happens to it.
Sushi is soooo risky for bacteria.

RE: Sushi
Fish is said to be avoided because of the Mercury levels, not the bacteria. So it wouldn't matter if it was made at home, in a factory or anywhere else.

[Phteven]

I broke heaps of the 'rules' when I was pregnant. TBH I didn't even know the sushi one and I ate heaps of sushi. I had the odd serve of soft cheese too.

[Lisa]

I think it's wise to be careful, but by the same token, many of the "rules" weren't around when our mothers and grandmothers were pregnant and most of us turned out just fine!

This is true to some extent, but there were loads and loads of unexplained stillbirths that would now most likely be attributed to listeria.

I know for me, I just didn't think the risks were worth it. As much as I wanted to eat cold meats, brie cheese and pate, the health of my baby was on my mind constantly so it kinda turned me off those foods because of that.

[Phteven]

RE: Sushi
Fish is said to be avoided because of the Mercury levels, not the bacteria. So it wouldn't matter if it was made at home, in a factory or anywhere else.

The sushi rice is actually very susceptible to bacteria.

[MrsFabuloso]

i didn't really go by the 'rules' either. I ate ham, runny eggs, etc...I just avoided the more obvious things, like salad bars. There are too many rules these days!!

[M22]

hmm- been thiking the same thing cause the only thing i've been craving is sushi. i went to japan at 23 weeks and had it there though- trying to avoid it here but it'ssoooooooooo hard

[Visitor8]

I know someone who lost a baby in pregnancy from Listeria.
With my first 2, I thought it was just all rubbish and I still continued eating like i would normally, this included cold meats and soft cheese. The boys were fine thank God.
Then I met my friend, she told me about her son, it broke my heart and this time I was careful.
I think at the end of the day you do what you want, but to me now that I know what happens, can happen, has happened, I don't think it is worth the risk for a peice of ham or a bit of kabana.

[Antheia]

If i listened to all the 'rules' I would have nothing to eat! I do limit my serving of fish to twice a fortnight though. But i eat soft serve (only at maccas cause their turn over is huge) and subway, cold meat from the deli (but obviously not if it looks bad), pasta salad. Have done through the other kids pregnancies too we are all fine. Everything in moderation though!

[M22]

mm, that is terrible about your friend i am curiuos though how did they find out it was that that caused it??

[Nai]

My friend who is Greek said that in their village they give the pregnant women salami to eat! In Slovenia they also make a special alcohol for women to strengthen their constitution.

[Shanti]

RE: Sushi
Fish is said to be avoided because of the Mercury levels, not the bacteria. So it wouldn't matter if it was made at home, in a factory or anywhere else.

Actually, the rice is prone to bacteria! so is the seaweed.... yes mercury is in fish but in a very small amount like in one roll? can't see how that would do much harm you'd have to eat quite a few rolls!

Eating fish is so good for pregnant women but again, in moderation. I eat sardines 2 times a week Mmmm yum! Great brain food.