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Foods to avoid

Foods to Avoid
Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
Food Safety
Listeria monocytogenes in a pathogenic bacterium which causes a group of diseasescollectively known as Listeriosis. Listeriosis in pregnancy is characterised by diarrhoea,headache, fever, muscle pain, meningitis, septicaemia, as well as spontaneous abortion.
Listeria monocytogene can grow at refrigeration termperatures but os killed by cooking andpasteurisation. Therefore, unpasteurised milk and unpasteurised dairy products are notrecommended during pregnancy.
Some refrigerated foods with a long shelf life (greater than 5 days) which are consumed withoutfurther cooking also have a high risk of contamination since L. monocytogenes can grow atrefrigeration temperatures. Such foods include soft cheese (even those made with pasteurisedmilk), paté, smoked salmon, deli meats (e.g. luncheon meats), and pre-prepared salads (e.g.
coleslaw).
Toxoplasmosis is caused by the bacterium Toxoplasma gondii and infection is caused byingestion of Toxoplasma oocytes excreted in cat faeces, or by eating raw or undercooked meatwith visible cysts from infected food animals. Infection with this bacterium during pregnancy canresult in the transfer of the bacterium to the foetus and result in spontanoeus abortion or serioushandicap in the newborn.
Raw or undercooked meats, poorly fermented or cured meats, and unwashed fruit andvegetables are potential sources of this bacterium and should be avoided during pregnancy.
Meat should be well cooked (no pink meat) and served piping hot to prevent Toxoplasma gondiiinfection. Hand washing (especially after handling raw meat and unwashed vegetables) andother hygiene practices are of utmost importance as well as wearing gloves when gardening orchanging cat litter.
While Salmonella infection is unlikely to cause any problems with a pregnancy or with fetaldevelopment, it's very unpleasant to suffer the effects during pregnancy. Pregnant women areadvised to take steps to minimise the risk of infection: cooking eggs till the yolk and white aresolid and avoiding products that may contain raw egg, such as homemade mayonnaise (shopbought mayonnaise is acceptable due to it not containing raw egg).
Campylobacter and Salmonella are both relatively common contaminants of meat. LikeSalmonella, Campylobacter causes the usual symptoms of food poisoning (diarrhoea, vomiting, Foods to Avoid
Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
stomach pains and cramps and fever) that can be particularly hard to cope with duringpregnancy. There is no particular risk to the infant or to the pregnancy from Campylobacterinfection.
Foods to avoid
With so many conflicting stories in the media about risks during pregnancy, often from dubious,unscientific sources, many pregnant women feel vulnerable and confused about what advice totrust for the welfare of their unborn child. Healthcare professionals can provide valuable andreliable information and advice to such women, who should be urged to take care during theirpregnancy but not to the point of inappropriate anxiety.
The following article looks at risks to the health of both the mother and her unborn infant thatsome foods may pose during pregnancy and offers sensible guidelines to minimise potentialproblems.
Foods, drinks and supplements that should be avoided in pregnancy
Vitamins and other supplements, including fish liver oil supplements, which containvitamin A (or retinol)Liver and liver productsMilk that has not been pasteurised or ultra-heat treatedDairy products made with unpasteurised milk including all soft cheese andmould-ripened cheese (even those made with pasteurised milk), e.g. Brie, Camembert,Goat's cheese, and blue cheese, e.g. Danish Blue, Stilton, Roquefort.
Pâté of any sortUncooked and undercooked ready-prepared mealsRaw and partially cooked eggs and food that may contain themRaw meat products and partially cooked meatUncooked cured or smoked meatsSmoked salmon and gravid lax fishUnwashed fruit and vegetables, including ready-prepared saladsRaw shellfishShark, swordfish and marlinLimit tuna to one fresh tuna steak (150g) per week or two 240g tins of tuna per week.
Avoid alcohol completely during pregnancy.
Food Preparation and Hygiene:
Always wash hands before handling foodWash fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eatingKeep raw and cooked meats separate when cooking and in the fridge and wash handsand chopping boards thoroughly after contact with uncooked meats.
Use different kitchen utensils and chopping boards when cooking raw and cooked meatsto avoid cross contaminationClean kitchen surfaces with disinfectant after preparing uncooked meat

Foods to Avoid
Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
Cook all foods thoroughly especially meat and fish and serve hotEnsure the temperature of the fridge is <5°CAvoid eating foods past their 'use by' dateWater from a contaminated supply should not be consumed. Check with your localauthority that your tap water is safe for consumption.
Drink bottled water only when abroad.
Always wash hands: before preparing and eating foodsbefore and after handling raw meatafter contact with animalsafter going to the toilet or changing a baby's nappyafter gardening Liver, liver products and supplements containing vitamin A
Liver and liver products contain high levels of vitamin A (retinol). Vitamin A is a fat solublevitamin and plays an important role in many biological processes. It is required for vision,embryonic development, and for cell proliferation and differentiation. If vitamin A intakes arehigh, however, it can build up in the body, and high levels have been shown to have harmfuleffects on the developing fetus2. Consequently, pregnant women are advised to avoid liver andliver products1.
The Irish recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin A during pregnancy is 700?g/dayretinol activity equivalent (RAE)3, with a tolerable upper level of 3,000?g/day RAE (Institute ofMedicine, 2006).
As some vitamin supplements contain high levels of vitamin A, pregnant women need to becareful about which type of supplement they take. A woman who wants to take a multi-nutrientsupplement should be directed towards those specially formulated for pregnancy. Fish liver oilsalso contain high levels of vitamin A and should be avoided during pregnancy1 .
FSAI 2012 Guidance on Vitamin A Intake During pregnancy1

Foods to Avoid
Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
There is no known safe alcohol intake in pregnancy therefore the Department of Health andChildren (2008) and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (2012)1 recommend that pregnantwomen avoid alcohol completely.
Alcohol is a teratogen (a substance which is harmful to the developing fetus), and can easilypass through the placenta to the developing foetus. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy canlead to the development of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome which is characterised by behaviouralproblems, mental retardation, aggressiveness, nervousness, short attention span, growthretardation, and birth defects4. The negative effects of maternal alcohol consumption on adeveloping baby seem to occur at widely varying alcohol intakes. This makes it hard to justify a‘safe' alcohol intake during pregnancy1.
FSAI 2012 Guidance on Alcohol During Pregnancy1
Raw shellfish
Raw shellfish are another common source of viruses and bacteria that can cause foodpoisoning, so the advice is to steer clear of these during pregnancy.1 Shark, swordfish and marlin
Concerns about high levels of mercury have led to a recommendation to avoid eating shark,swordfish and marlin during pregnancy. Mercury at high levels can damage the developingnervous system1.
Due the mercury content of tuna, pregnant women should limit their intake of tuna to one freshtuna steak (150g) per week or two 240g tins of tuna per week1.
In the past, it was recommended that mothers of infants at high risk of developing atopicdisease (infants with at least 1 first degree relative with an allergy) should avoid potentially highallergenic foods during pregnancy including eggs, cow's milk, fish, peanuts, and tree nuts.
However, the most recent guidelines by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (2012) state thatunless the mother is allergic to the food herself, there is no evidence to recommend theelimination of these foods from her diet1.
FSAI 2012 Guidance On Potential Allergenic Foods During Pregnancy1

Foods to Avoid
Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
Excess caffeine intake has been associated with adverse health outcome in pregnancy such as: Miscarriage5Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)6Low birth weight7-8 Caffeine is absorbed freely across the placenta but cannot be broken down by either theplacenta or the foetus. In some cases, women go off coffee during pregnancy, and this naturalaversion may have some protective basis. As well as coffee, other foods such as tea, chocolateand energy drinks also contain caffeine. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (2012)recommend that pregnant women should not have more than 200mg/day of coffee1(approximately 2 cups of brewed coffee per day).
FSAI 2012 Guidance on Caffeine Consumption During Pregnancy1
References: 1. Food Safety Authority of Ireland (2012). Scientific Recommendations for a National Infant Feeding Policy, 2nd Edition. 2. Miller
RK et al. (1998). Periconceptional vitamin a use: How much is teratogenic? Reproductive Toxicology. 12(1): 75–88. 3. Food Safety Authority of
Ireland (1999). Recommended dietary allowances for Ireland. 4. March of Dimes Birth Defect Foundation. (1997). Public health education
information sheet: Drinking alcohol during pregnancy. 5. Fenster et al. (1991). Caffeine consumption during pregnancy and fetal growth. Am J
Public Health. 81(4): 458–461. 6. Ford RPK et al. (1998). Heavy caffeine intake in pregnancy and sudden infant death syndrome. Arch Dis
Child. 78: 9-13. 7. Bracken MB et al. ( 2003). Association of Maternal Caffeine Consumption with Decrements in Fetal Growth. Am J
Epidemiol.157:456–466. 8. Care. (2008). Maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and risk of foetal growth restriction: a large prospective
observational study. BMJ. 337: a2332

Source: http://www.aptamilhcp.ie/pregnancy/nutrition/foods-to-avoid?tmpl=component&format=pdf