Smoked salmon....REALLY that bad? Anyone eat it?

[Toposlonoshlep]

I have very STRONG food aversions this time around and all I want are pickled/smoked/salty things. Sucks for my normally varied organic diet. *sigh* Anyway, all I can think about is lox, and I have some beautiful wild-caught in my fridge. All I want is lox on a bagel. With consideration for serving size and mercury (everything in moderation), will I really get listeria infection if I eat it sometimes? Did anyone else indulge in lox while pregnant?

I don't know how much of this listeria stuff is fear-mongering and how much is truly scary. I mean, French women eat unpasteurized cheese....Japanese women eat raw fish.......

[L'lee]

I've wondered about the risk of that kind of thing, too, but I feel like in my case I may as well go a little conservative with that kind of thing, but I can definitely understand a craving! I love smoked salmon, too, especially with cream cheese on a pumpernickel bagel. Mmm!

Would it ruin it for you to cook it a bit? I think if you cook it until it gets pretty hot, that would kill any listeria. You could heat it until it's hot, then put it on your bagel and let it cool for a bit. I have done that with feta cheese while pregnant (baked it into a quiche) and I think that it should kill any potential listeria if you do that. At least that would be *one* way to get around the listeria issue and still have your smoked salmon!

[memz]

I eat it.....It's sooo yummy!! But then again I eat pretty much everything they tell you not to eat....soft cheese, sushi....you name it I eat it!!

[Toposlonoshlep]

You're so brave!!! I love it. I look at my mom's attitude towards food and the "guidelines" that are meant to scare the $%@* out of pregnant women seem absurd. Back when my mom was pregnant with me, they just lived their lives. Now it seems you're not supposed to eat anything, touch anything, move anything......It can be very frustrating.
 

Originally Posted by memz 

I eat it.....It's sooo yummy!! But then again I eat pretty much everything they tell you not to eat....soft cheese, sushi....you name it I eat it!!

[XanaduMama]

Almost every cheese you're likely to find here in the US (including soft cheeses) is pasteurized. So don't worry about that. Salmon has a relatively low mercury level, and the omegas will probably outweigh the detriment of any residual mercury. And listeria...pshaw. Stay away from the cat box and forget about it. Good grief, woman: eat your lox and enjoy it!

[Abraisme]

Yeah.. I agree. 
 

Originally Posted by XanaduMama 

Almost every cheese you're likely to find here in the US (including soft cheeses) is pasteurized. So don't worry about that. Salmon has a relatively low mercury level, and the omegas will probably outweigh the detriment of any residual mercury. And listeria...pshaw. Stay away from the cat box and forget about it. Good grief, woman: eat your lox and enjoy it!

[AbbieB]

I ate a heck of a lot of lox when pregnant with #1. Soooooo goooood!

[Triniity]

Me, too. I don´consider it raw anyway, andI think the fats are good for baby ... 

[yellowdart]

I've been eating smoked salmon.  There is some very slight listeria risk I think, but listeria is so so rare that I just don't worry about it that much.  I think this pretty much comes down to how much risk you are willing to tolerate.  

[bignerpie]

Originally Posted by XanaduMama 

Almost every cheese you're likely to find here in the US (including soft cheeses) is pasteurized. So don't worry about that. Salmon has a relatively low mercury level, and the omegas will probably outweigh the detriment of any residual mercury. And listeria...pshaw. Stay away from the cat box and forget about it. Good grief, woman: eat your lox and enjoy it!

I had the same craving, and I ate a ton of lox early in my pregnancy. But I eat just about everything I'm not supposed to. 

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by memz 

I eat it.....It's sooo yummy!! But then again I eat pretty much everything they tell you not to eat....soft cheese, sushi....you name it I eat it!!

[Toposlonoshlep]

[RosieL]

I am following the rules for my husband; he has asked me to follow the rules unless I can present a clear case as to why I shouldn't. I haven't had a craving such that I've needed to do the research yet.

But reading this thread makes me want smoked salmon with capers and creme fraiche!

[element2012]

I had some bleu cheese on a salad yesterday!  I felt like such a  little devil to eat it, but just as another poster mentioned, soft cheeses are more than likely pasturized, especially served at a restaurant where they couldn't bear to have a food poisoning incident. It was sooo good!

Regarding the smoked salmon, I would just heat it steaming and enjoy! I've been enjoying lunch meats this way!

[cameragirl]

We cook smoked salmon all day in a kamado pot with a wood fire. It comes out more like a soft jerky, and is SOOO good. I would be less worried about that style, but as long as you heat up the lox or whatever else, it should be fine. I also take in mind where it was prepared and stored. I won't trust sea food salad when we go out to eat, but if a family member that I know to be fastidious about kitchen safety cooks it, I'm fine eating it.

[babygirlie]

Salmon is on the lowest mercury levels list and it says you can eat it a few times a week.  We JUST caught 4 big beautiful river salmon and they are being smoked as we speak. I think really it is fully cooked. It's in a hot container for many hours kinda like jerky. We will mix it with cream cheese etc and oh man... so good!

[Toposlonoshlep]

You guys rock. I never thought of heating up lox (seems kind of gross, but I'll give it a go)...I don't use a microwave, so maybe that's the problem. I like that juicy slimy lox texture. lol.Better safe than sorry I guess though. But I'm not going to let that lox stare at me from the fridge ever again. 

[babygirlie]

My husband is extremely paranoid with fish (he's a fisherman). He dumped 2 big salmon last week because they were warm for 2 hours so I know smoked salmon is safe. He is super picky. So he brined his salmon over night and now it's in the smoker for 24 hours ish. Can't wait!

[montessorimama1]

I don't eat beef or chicken, and I try to stay away from farmed fish, so wild salmon is a staple in my house.  Since I became pregnant I've had it raw, smoked, cooked, you name it... Heck, in Norway pregnant women surely eat it all the time and have for thousands of years...

[Kindermama]

PSA: Just saw this today and remembered seeing this thread......http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/27/salmon.recall/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn