What you eat affects your body and health, and even more so when you are pregnant. And there are certain foods that you should avoid to not put your pregnancy at risk. Dr Lim Min Yu, Consultant at National University Hospital Women’s Centre shares what you should not to eat while pregnant.
Soft Cheeses
The good news if that you can still eat hard cheeses, all you need to avoid are the soft cheese as they contain more moisture than hard cheeses and this makes it more likely for bacteria to grow in them and you do not want to consume this bacteria. Cheeses that you should avoid are the soft cheeses with a white rind like Brie and Camembert, and soft blue cheeses such as Danish Blue.
Raw and partially cooked food
It may be delicious but uncooked and even partially cooked food is a vessel for dangerous bacteria as illustrated by the recent issue with raw fish sold in in hawker centres that has lead to fatalities from bacterial infections. Uncooked items you should avoid include eggs, meat, seafood and shellfish. You don’t need to cut sushi out of your diet, you just have to choose those that are fully cooked such as tamago (egg), cucumber, fully cooked unagi (eel) or prawn (ebi).
Tuna
Restrict your tuna intake as it has higher content of mercury than other fish.
Liver
Liver contains large amounts of Vitamin A and this can be harmful to a developing fetus.
Pate
Harmful bacteria like listeria exists in pate and may also contain large amounts of liver, both which can be harmful for the unborn child.
Cold cuts
Cold cured meats such as salami, Parma ham and pepperoni have a higher chance of containing bacteria and should be avoided. If you really are craving it, they should be thoroughly warmed up.
