{"id":19267,"date":"2019-12-09T07:32:17","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T13:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/?p=19267"},"modified":"2020-03-06T17:24:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T23:24:09","slug":"pregnancy-and-holiday-food-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/food-safety-news\/pregnancy-and-holiday-food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Pregnancy and Holiday Food Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019re pregnant or preparing a holiday meal for someone who is, take extra care when it comes to food safety. Immune system changes in pregnant women place themselves and their unborn child at an increased risk of foodborne illness.<\/p>\n
Women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant, have to make safe choices with food and avoid certain foods to prevent a foodborne illness and for the safety of the unborn child.<\/p>\n
The foods of concern and that should be safely handled and prepared are: seafood, undercooked meat and poultry, eggs, ready-to-eat (RTE) foods (packaged foods and luncheon meats), raw milk and milk products, raw sprouts, raw dough or batter, and unpasteurized juice or cider.<\/p>\n
Women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant, as well as breastfeeding mothers, should make informed choices when it comes to seafood.<\/p>\n
Seafood is important in a healthy diet with a lean, low-calorie source of protein. However, some fish may contain mercury or other harmful chemicals at sufficiently high levels to cause disease.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the FDA and EPA updated their guidance regarding eating fish<\/a>. This advice is geared toward helping women who are pregnant or may become pregnant \u2013 as well as breastfeeding mothers and parents of young children \u2013 make informed choices when it comes to fish that is healthy and safe to eat.<\/p>\n Choose a variety of fish that are lower in mercury FDA Fish Consumption Advice Chart<\/a> (PDF)<\/strong><\/p>\n Seafood Minimum Cooking Temperature:\u00a0 <\/strong>Likewise, all seafood should be cooked to a safe internal minimum temperature <\/em>of 145\u00b0F. Raw seafood (like sushi or shellfish) may contain parasites or bacteria that can make pregnant women ill and could potentially harm their unborn child.<\/p>\n Eggs \u2013 just like raw meat, poultry and fish \u2013 must be properly stored, handled and cooked \u2013 to be safe. Eggs that appear normal can contain a germ called Salmonella<\/em> that can make you sick, especially if you eat raw or lightly cooked eggs.<\/p>\n Likewise, raw cookie dough can contain bacteria \u2013 like salmonella and e. coli \u2013 that can cause foodborne illness. In fact, the FDA has issued warnings for people to not eat raw cookie dough, and other products with untreated flour, due to an E. coli risk and raw eggs from a salmonella risk.<\/p>\n Ready-To-Eat foods are pre-packaged foods for ease of consumption. Products designated as convenience or ready-to-eat foods are often prepared food that can be sold as hot, ready-to-eat dishes; as room-temperature, shelf-stable products; or as refrigerated or frozen products that require minimal preparation (typically just heating).<\/p>\n Ready-to-eat foods have a high risk of causing foodborne illness. Some examples of ready-to-eat foods include:<\/p>\n Raw milk, i.e., unpasteurized milk, can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risk. Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats can contain harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli<\/em>, and Listeria<\/em>.<\/p>\n Pasteurization is the process that kills harmful bacteria by heating milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time.<\/p>\n Listeria monocytogenes<\/em> (Listeri<\/em>a) is a harmful foodborne bacteria found in ready-to-eat and unpasteurized (raw) milk and milk products – and can cause invasive severe human illness (listeriosis) in susceptible people.<\/p>\n Unlike most bacteria, Listeria <\/em>survive and multiply at lower (refrigerator) temperatures – which allows it to reach levels high enough to cause illness. Although freezing will prevent Listeria<\/em> bacteria from growing, it does not kill the bacteria.<\/p>\n For most healthy people, the infection doesn\u2019t pose much of a threat. However, pregnant women run a serious risk of becoming ill from the bacteria Listeria. If a woman is pregnant, Listeria can can cause miscarriage, or illness, or death of the newborn baby – even if the mother doesn’t feel sick.<\/p>\n Pregnant women typically experience only fever and other flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle aches. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.<\/p>\n People with invasive listeriosis usually report symptoms starting 1 to 4 weeks after eating food contaminated with Listeria<\/em>; some people have reported symptoms starting as late as 70 days after exposure or as early as the same day of exposure.<\/p>\n There are three very simple things you can do to help prevent illness from Listeria<\/i>:<\/p>\n 1. Chill at the Right Temperature 2. Use Ready-to-Eat Foods Quickly! 3. Keep the Refrigerator Clean Women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant,\u00a0 have to make safe choices with food and avoid certain foods to prevent a foodborne illness and for the safety of the unborn child.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019re pregnant or preparing a holiday meal for someone who is, take extra care when it comes to food safety. Women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant,\u00a0have to make safe choices with food and avoid certain foods to prevent a foodborne illness and for the safety of the unborn child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1106,1321,1326],"tags":[1354,1361],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19267"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19267"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19277,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19267\/revisions\/19277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodsafetytrainingcertification.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>You can use this guide and chart<\/a> to help you choose which fish to eat, and how often to eat them, based on their mercury levels. The \u201cBest Choice\u201d have the lowest levels of mercury.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eggs<\/h3>\n
\t\t
Ready-To-Eat (RTE) Foods<\/h3>\n
\n
\t\t
Raw Milk and Milk Products<\/h3>\n
\t\t
Listeria<\/h3>\n
\t\t
What are the symptoms of listeriosis?<\/h3>\n
\t\t
How to Reduce Your Risk from Listeria<\/i><\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>The right temperatures slow the growth of Listeria<\/i>. Put a refrigerator thermometer in the refrigerator and adjust the refrigerator temperature control, if necessary. Put a second thermometer in the freezer. Your refrigerator should register at 40\u00b0F (4\u00b0C) or below and your freezer at 0\u00b0F (-18\u00b0C).<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Use ready-to-eat, refrigerated foods by the Use By date on the package. The longer they\u2019re stored in the refrigerator, the more chance Listeria<\/i> has to grow.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Clean your refrigerator regularly. Wipe up spills immediately. This is particularly important, so Listeria<\/i> doesn\u2019t have a place to grow and then spread to other foods. Clean the inside walls and shelves with hot water and a mild liquid dishwashing detergent, rinse, then dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.<\/p>\nSummary<\/h3>\n
\t\t
References<\/h3>\n
\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.foodsafety.gov\/people-at-risk\/pregnant-women<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/usdafoodsafety\/28153216133<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/listeria\/index.html<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.fda.gov\/animal-veterinary\/animal-health-literacy\/get-facts-about-listeria<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.webmd.com\/food-recipes\/food-poisoning\/what-is-listeria#1<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttp:\/\/fda.gov\/Food\/FoodborneIllnessContaminants\/PeopleAtRisk\/ucm312704.htm<\/a><\/li>\n
\nhttp:\/\/health.ny.gov\/diseases\/communicable\/listeriosis\/fact_sheet.htm<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n