While it's best to avoid deli meats like salami during your pregnancy, if you must eat them, make sure they're thoroughly heated to prevent the risk of contracting a foodborne pathogen. And if you have any symptoms of infection, contact your OB-GYN right away to ensure the safety of you and your baby.
It's possible to get listeriosis from eating cold cured meats, though it is a very small risk. It's also possible to get toxoplasmosis or salmonella food poisoning from eating cold cured meats.
Like other cured salamis, pepperoni is a raw food. Whether from the deli counter or out of the bag, you should avoid eating it cold because it can harbor bacteria that can harm your developing baby. However, cooked pepperoni is fine.
In the USA, the American Pregnancy Association state that pregnant women should avoid all types of deli meat, including those that are pre-packaged. You can still heat the deli meat to make it safe for consumption, though.
“If you're pregnant, you really shouldn't have deli meat,” Schaffner says. The only way to ensure that sliced deli meat is safe to eat, he adds, is by heating it to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, to guarantee that any lingering surface bacteria is killed off.
Pregnant women are about 10 times more likely to get listeriosis than other healthy adults. An estimated 1/6 of all Listeria cases occur in pregnant women.
Listeria can infect the placenta, the amniotic fluid, and the baby, and can cause miscarriage or stillbirth. Infected babies who survive are likely to be born prematurely.
While listeriosis can affect anyone, it's particularly worrying for pregnant women because it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth. Newborn babies infected with listeria from their mother can become seriously ill with meningitis, blood poisoning or other infections.
Listeriosis can cause mild, flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle aches, and diarrhea or upset stomach. You also may have a stiff neck, headache, confusion, or loss of balance. Symptoms may appear as late as 2 months after you have eaten something with Listeria. Many pregnant women do not have any symptoms.
22% of cases of perinatal listeriosis result in stillbirth or neonatal death, which makes it crucial to get early treatment. With treatment of the illness, fetal infection and other complications can be avoided.
Can Pregnant Women Eat At Subway? Subway sandwiches are safe for pregnant women to eat if they're heated until hot, rather than just warm. This means either microwaved for a few seconds or having the sandwich toasted – sometimes a little more than normal.
If the infection occurs during the second or third trimester of pregnancy, 26% of cases could end up in stillbirths, uterine fetal loss, or abortion. LM tends to occur in late pregnancy.
Listeria can take advantage of this and cause the invasive listeriosis infection, with about one in six listeriosis cases (17%) in Australia occurring in pregnant women. The risk of infection seems to be highest in the third trimester.
Testing for listeria is usually done with a simple blood test. During pregnancy, ultrasounds may be used to detect symptoms of listeriosis in the baby.
Listeria monocytogenes is one of a select number of pathogens that can cross the placental barrier and cause significant harm to the fetus, leading to spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, preterm labor, and disseminated neonate infection despite antibiotic treatment.
The good news is that the probability of experiencing a problem from deli meats is very unlikely. Approximately 2,500 individuals will become infected with Listeria annually. This means it is extremely rare.
An estimated 1,600 people get listeriosis each year, and about 260 die. The infection is most likely to sicken pregnant women and their newborns, adults aged 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems. Pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other people to get a Listeria infection.
Listeria infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, and preterm labor. Listeria infection can cause serious illness and even death in newborns.
Luckily, Subway still has a variety of food options that are safe for pregnant people. Everything from Subway's steak and cheese, oven-roasted chicken, meatball, and tuna sandwiches are just fine for pregnant women to consume, Dr. Phillips explains.
It's best to avoid deli or processed meats, such as prosciutto, ham, salami, luncheon meat, chicken meat and other smoked or cured meats, during pregnancy. They may contain listeria or salmonella bacteria, or toxoplasma parasites. Thorough cooking will kill the bacteria and parasites, though.
Fresh chicken, turkey, beef, pork and fish that have not been modified are considered unprocessed meats.
“Deli meat is not safe for pregnant women to have as there's a risk that it may contain Listeria, a bacteria that is harmful and could result in stillbirth or miscarriage,” says Kara Hoerr, a registered dietitian nutritionist.
Most people sickened were hospitalized, but one illness resulted in the loss of a pregnancy, and another resulted in death, according to the CDC. This outbreak of Listeria is linked with deli meats, like cold cuts, lunch meats, hot dogs, and pâtés sold at the deli, as well as cheeses from the deli case.