What not to eat during pregnancy

Once you are pregnant it starts… ”Can I eat these meats or not? Would the mozzarella in the salad be made of pasteurized or unpasteurized milk?” Online it can be hard to find the right and correct information, that’s why whe wrote this blog.

Recently, the nutritional advice from the ‘Voedingscentrum’ for pregnant women has been changed.

These are the most important changes:

• Canned tuna is now discouraged, like other predator fish in cans (swordfish, pike, pike perch, shark, mackerel and eel).
• Fresh (raw) herring or other raw fish is discouraged as well, the advice is to always heat fish well. This also means no sushi with fish.
• One cup of coffee (or energy drink) per day.

Tip: alternate your tea flavors since each herb has its specific effect. A good idea is rooibos tea, rooibos naturally contains no theine and tannic acid.

What has always been discouraged?

• Smoked or raw fish (also no crustaceans or shellfish) from vacuum packages. Unless heated properly, then it is not a problem.
• Soft and hard cheeses made from raw milk. The label of the product must contain ‘au lait cru’ or ‘made of raw milk’, which is required by law. Most of the soft cheeses from the supermarket are safe. Some hard biological cheeses are still made from raw milk, the ‘regular’ cheese from the grocery store is always safe.
• Raw eggs and products with raw eggs, such as homemade mayonnaise or homemade tiramisu.
• Raw meat. Caution with meats: smoked, dried or fermented is not safe enough! Meat products must be grilled or cooked, then it is safe.
• Excess liver products such as liver cheese and pâté. One piece of bread with liver cheese or pâté is no problem!
• Milkshakes and soft icecream, because of the possible presence of the bacterium Listeria inside the machines.

Fact! If there is ‘milk’ on the package of a product you can assume that it is made of pasteurized milk.

The most healthy option is to eat as fresh as possible and in case of doubt, heat the product through and through. By doing that the bacterium Listeria and the parasite Toxoplasmosis, which provide the potential risks, are killed. Do not store leftovers for more than one day in the refrigerator and wash your fruits and vegetables carefully when you eat them raw.

Tip: The ‘GezondGroeien’ app of the ‘Voedingscentrum’ is very useful to quickly find out whether or not you can eat a product. On their website you can also have a look.