Deli meats can carry a bacteria that's especially dangerous during pregnancy, but Teigen said microwaving them first is "a way to get around the system." Expert guidance recommends pregnant people heat cold cuts to 165 degrees F or "until steaming" to kill bacteria.
The FDA carefully regulates the manufacture of new microwave ovens under strict safety standards to ensure that emission levels are well below the limit of what's considered a health risk. So as long as you've got a fairly recent model, you're probably A-OK.
Listeria is killed by pasteurization and cooking. Cold cuts are now sprayed with a food additive that helps prevent Listeria before packaging. You don't need to panic if you are pregnant and have been eating deli meats.
All sandwich bread is safe for pregnant women to eat, but you can make wiser choices when choosing bread. For example: Opt for brown or wholegrain bread over white. Choose wraps or flatbreads rather than bulky subs or bagels.
When you reheat food, make sure it is piping hot all the way through. Foods should not be reheated more than once as cooling and reheating food more than once increases the risk of food poisoning.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advises that pregnant women "avoid eating hot dogs, lunch meats, cold cuts, other deli meats (such as bologna), or fermented or dry sausages unless they are heated to an internal temperature of 165°F or until steaming hot just before serving."
Cook the lunch meat in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on how much you are heating. Keep a close eye on it as it cooks.
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.
“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.
Well-cooked chicken and other poultry are safe to eat while you're pregnant, as long as they're still hot. But you should avoid cold cooked chicken and processed chicken meat from the deli.
Whatever temperature the food or drinks is, when it reaches the stomach and intestine, it will change to body temperature. So taking cold drinks will not affect your growing baby.
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.
If you plan to eat previously cooked and refrigerated leftovers, only keep them in the refrigerator for a day and reheat them thoroughly to steaming hot. This will kill Listeria bacteria. When reheating food, especially in a microwave, make sure the food is steaming hot throughout.
Is it safe to eat pre-prepared convenience meals during pregnancy? Yes, as long as you store, handle and cook pre-prepared convenience meals properly, and follow the instructions on the packet.
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.
What are the symptoms of listeriosis? 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.
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.
It must be cooked before eating. Bacon can be cooked in a skillet/pan on the stove, in an oven, on an indoor grill, or in the microwave. Make sure to cook bacon at 165°F (73.8°C) before serving. It's difficult to determine the temperature of a thin piece of bacon, so think the crispier, the better.
If you're not bothered by preservatives and really want to eat a few slices, you can zap them in the microwave or put them in a baked dish — or fry them up with your scrambled eggs. But it's best to avoid pepperoni out of the bag or sliced at the deli counter.
ALL CHICKEN PRODUCTS CONTAIN MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR INFANTS BELOW 12 MONTHS AND PREGNANT WOMEN.
The official advice on eating McFlurries in pregnancy
NHS Wales says that soft ice cream is safe to eat in pregnancy, provided it's made with pasteurised milk and eggs. All McDonald's dairy products are pasteurised, so it should be fine for you to tuck into a McFlurry.
You can eat it straight out from the pack, or you can warm it up using the microwave directly from the pack too!