[brooklyn_warbler]

i feel like every time i think i've got a handle on what i'm "supposed" to and "not supposed" to eat, i find out about all these other places where listeria can show its ugly little face. packaged hummus? ice cream?!?!?

:

i swear, if i listened to every scary thing i hear, i wouldn't be eating ANYTHING. i wish i was chill enough to not pay attention at all, because it really just seems like you can't ever control it, and you just have to put your faith in the universe that if your baby is meant to make it to you, she will. i mean, who expected to get e. coli from packaged organic spinach?!

i just never know when to draw the line. logically i think i should just eat whatever i want. but then i get a little paranoid. i was just not eating any soft/blue/etc cheeses, unless cooked. but then i hear something like fresh mozzarella and packaged hummus and i start feeling all crazy because i've been eating these things. grumble grumble grumble.

 

[Valerieg]

That's funny...hummus? Really?

I think that they could probably find something wrong with everything that we consume. I just avoid the things that are easily pinpointed as "bad" and eat everything else in moderation.

But it does make me wonder sometimes how so many of us are here now. Our mothers likely didn't pay any attention to these things at all! I know mine didn't.

 

[brooklyn_warbler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerieg But it does make me wonder sometimes how so many of us are here now. Our mothers likely didn't pay any attention to these things at all! I know mine didn't.

totally. my mom is like "i didn't know i wasn't supposed to eat blue cheese or deli meats!"

i'm veg, so the only stuff that really affects me is the soft cheeses. it's annoying, but i've also been rewashing bagged greens. i mostly avoid salad bars because i don't have much reason to eat at them anyway, but i think that's overobsessing, too. i know people who tell me not to eat the veg i grow in my garden, either, and i'm just like...i have to draw the line somewhere. and, like, hummus is so good for you...protein, folic acid, etc. i'm just not cutting hummus out of my diet!

 

[greenmountainmomma]

I thought I was the only one who actually followed the ever-complicated listeria rules. Although ICE CREAM??? I've messed up there. I was recently on vacation with my pregnant SIL who was eating copious amounts of deli meat which I hadn't dared to touch. Many of the other mommas I know said they did the same. And here I've been sticking to PB&J for nothing? I did finally break down and have a turkey sandwich (AFTER microwaving it... ha, ha -- I couldn't REALLY go for it. I figured I might zap the listeria out of it). I had a stomach ache afterwards and was sure I'd done something terrible...

I've been avoiding soft cheeses and haven't eaten deli meat again. No way I'm giving up ice cream (it is summer, after all).

 

[brooklyn_warbler]

haha, yeah, this is why i'm calling it the "listeria monster." i know it is a real risk and is not imaginary but sometimes it seems that way. it just seems like it makes an awful lot of mamas feel nuts for a very, very small risk -- and one that pops up in the weirdest places, thus making it impossible to really be "safe" from.

 

[ChristyM26]

Ice cream?? When did that become an issue?? It's torture avoiding the deli meat and soft cheeses. What's wrong with mozzarella anyway? I didn't think that was considered a soft cheese. Goodness, that's a mess. If I tried to avoid every thing that I was told I should avoid I'd be eating only well cooked chicken and beef and vegetables. Geez...

 

[*Lindsey*]

I've heard soft serve ice cream can be risky, not the hand dipped kind.

 

[mom0810]

Why not just make your own ice cream? Then you know it's fresh.

I think the only risk would be if the milk used to make the ice cream were not pasteurized. Or maybe it has to do with the raw eggs in some ice cream? Not sure.

My first pregnancy, I ate blue cheese like crazy. You CAN have it if it's pasteurized.

My OB told me turkey is fine, it's the UNCOOKED deli meats, like salami, which is cured, not cooked, that are dangerous. Pasteurized cheese is fine.

Check out the CDC's page on listeriosis, or ask your OB. It's not as scary as you might think. I ate raw cookie dough all the time in my first pregnancy, too.

Of course now I am not doing that, but it was never a concern to me.

Ice cream... that is just not logical. Like I said, unles they use eggs or something.

 

[brooklyn_warbler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom0810 Why not just make your own ice cream? Then you know it's fresh. I think the only risk would be if the milk used to make the ice cream were not pasteurized. Or maybe it has to do with the raw eggs in some ice cream? Not sure. My first pregnancy, I ate blue cheese like crazy. You CAN have it if it's pasteurized. My OB told me turkey is fine, it's the UNCOOKED deli meats, like salami, which is cured, not cooked, that are dangerous. Pasteurized cheese is fine. Check out the CDC's page on listeriosis, or ask your OB. It's not as scary as you might think. I ate raw cookie dough all the time in my first pregnancy, too. Of course now I am not doing that, but it was never a concern to me. Ice cream... that is just not logical. Like I said, unles they use eggs or something.

i'm just citing foods where i have actually found "outbreaks" happen. it honestly seems totally random -- pasteurized cheeses, deli meats, packaged hummus, packed ice cream... (this is though in countries where unpasteurized cheese is normal, there are less outbreaks. go figure.) if you search for recalls, you'll see this happens in pasteurized products so the new recommendation that pasteurized cheese is OK seems more like an admission that they never really know where bacteria's gonna pop up.

anyway, just to be clear: my point is not that we should actually abstain from these things, but how crazymaking it is when you realize that, heck, you just have to have faith that you're not to going to eat this damn bacteria.

 

[brooklyn_warbler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom0810 I ate raw cookie dough all the time in my first pregnancy, too. Of course now I am not doing that, but it was never a concern to me.

haha, i cannot bake anything without at least TASTING a tiny bite of the batter. how else would you know the spices, etc, are right?

 

[GinaRae]

I believe it's the soft serve icecream, mozzarella because of how it's made, and why not make your own hummus (really simple!)? But I totally understand the aggravation. I had no choice but to have a REALLY yummy turkey wrap at a friend's house, starve or make someone go get me other foods. So I ate the wrap and felt guilty and worried for days.

I have a theory (and why I do, I don't know) that the reason the cases of listeria are fewer in countries where unpasteurized cheeses are more common is that people are eating the cheeses as fast as they're being made because it's an every day thing and therefore there's less bacteria on their cheeses that grows. Plus, they know what they're doing. Like Canadians know bacon and beer, eh? ... kidding!

 

[brooklyn_warbler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GinaRae I believe it's the soft serve icecream, mozzarella because of how it's made, and why not make your own hummus (really simple!)? But I totally understand the aggravation. I had no choice but to have a REALLY yummy turkey wrap at a friend's house, starve or make someone go get me other foods. So I ate the wrap and felt guilty and worried for days.

there have been outbreaks in packaged ice cream, too. but it's only fresh mozzarella, not packaged that's a "no-no"...maybe. it's so hard to get consistent info. on the cdc website mozzarella period is considered fine.

i do make my own hummus but i often have hummus sandwiches while out, too. and during the first tri i ate packaged hummus because i was too tired to make anything, ykwim?

my point is that certain things are singled out, but listeria shows up everywhere. which is why i'm kind of like "f it, i'm going to eat goat cheese for the rest of this pregnancy."

 

[Rikki Jean]

I said this in a different thread last week or the week before, but I don't follow "the rules" about these foods.

: I eat feta every day, have done ceasar quite a few times (although I totally avoided it last time), and am not about to stop eating ice cream!

 

[Frisbee]

I started out "obeying the rules" but have gotten pretty complacent as the weeks have gone by. I have turkey sandwiches occasionally, I just had a greek salad, I've made caesar dressing with a soft boiled egg... I didn't know you have to avoid soft serve too (just had that last weekend)! There are times when I am travelling for work and it's turkey sandwich or starve. (Like when a client orders in sandwiches for lunch & doesn't get any veggie ones). So far no problems, knock on wood.

Does it say anywhere how big the risk is, or how many outbreaks a year there are? If it's very likely I'll be more careful...but if it's really rare I won't torture myself.

I wonder how the risk compares to the likelihood of being in a car accident or something like that. Is anyone in this DDC an insurance adjuster?

 

[mom0810]

From the USDA handout my OB gave me:

Every year, 2,500 Americans become sick from Listeriosis, with 1 out of 5 dying from the illness.

So it's pretty rare.

 

[brooklyn_warbler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frisbee I started out "obeying the rules" but have gotten pretty complacent as the weeks have gone by. I have turkey sandwiches occasionally, I just had a greek salad, I've made caesar dressing with a soft boiled egg... I didn't know you have to avoid soft serve too (just had that last weekend)! There are times when I am travelling for work and it's turkey sandwich or starve. (Like when a client orders in sandwiches for lunch & doesn't get any veggie ones). So far no problems, knock on wood. Does it say anywhere how big the risk is, or how many outbreaks a year there are? If it's very likely I'll be more careful...but if it's really rare I won't torture myself. I wonder how the risk compares to the likelihood of being in a car accident or something like that. Is anyone in this DDC an insurance adjuster?

you're much more likely to get into a car accident. in fact, i think you're much more likely to get hit by a bus on your way to work to eat that turkey sandwich.

if you google for outbreaks, you'll see they only happen every couple of years. i think the last ice cream recall was in, like, 1987! fresh mozzarella sometime in 2001, i believe, etc.

my policy now is to basically stay away from the soft cheeses, but not worry about anything else. (i also went out for ice cream last night! i eat it so rarely that i really can't be bothered to worry. peanut butter cookie dough, in a cone on a summer's night walk, yummmmm.) i LOVE cheeses and they're a big part of my protein and calcium in my diet. i have missed eating goat cheese in my salad, but i have figured out ways to cook the various cheese i miss. a while back i made a tart with goat cheese, tonight i'm making zucchini stuffed with lentils, red pepper, and feta, etc. i'm trying to be logical about it and not really stress too much. yesterday i made myself a fresh mozzarella sandwich (with arugula, lemon, and olive oil, sigh) and broiled it but i don't know and care if it really hit the 160F it's supposed to kill all bacteria, you know? you do what you can. i have the utmost faith this baby will make it to me, and i'm sure stressing about what i can and can't eat is much worse for the baby than some cheese.

 

[sorteep]

I think if your digestion is very healthy you would be less likely to get sick from listeria if you accidently got some (from some weird source) like enough stomach acid, good digestive enymes and lots of probiotics.. I think should help protect from accidental exposure.. (of course, I would not TRY to eat it but with all the sources.... hard to be 100% sure to avoid..) I was not even thinking the other weekend and ate like three plates of Greek salad my Greek BIL makes teh most AMAZING homemade greek salad from scratch .. I was not even thinking of the feta in it... I have alos had a good bit of Hummus (store bought) I had NO idea that could be a prob... oops.. the only lunchmeat I have eaten has been store cooked turkey heated.. I think I need to live in a bubble...