Confused about meat in pregnancy

ozbackineire

Hi,

I’m pregnant with my first baby but I’m very confused about cold meats during pregnancy. I know you can’t have deli meats but if I buy my own chicken or ham and cook it myself for sandwiches, can it be eaten cold from the fridge or does it have to be heated up Prior to eating?

TIA

Princess Calla

I think the deli meats are more salami's and cured meats.

I definitely ate packaged "cold meats" chicken, ham turkey .

I also ate "last night's leftovers" , chicken / pork etc.

lazygal

The guidelines on deli meats are mainly for American residents with lower food standards.
I didn't avoid anything in pregnancy.food wise.

bee06

It’s cold cured meals because these aren’t actually cooked. You could have Parma ham if you cooked it first (like on pizza) is my understanding.

Screenshot rom the HSE website

Loveinapril

Agree with the above.
There is so much dos and don'ts for pregnancy but stick to the HSE or NHS websites for facts. Don't get overwhelmed by it all. Common sense should prevail!

Gatica

Prepackaged stuff from supermarkets is fine, even parma ham. Unless packaging says to cook prior to consumption. Some err on side of caution for pre-cut meats at deli counter, because you dont know how long it's been sitting there.
Same goes for eggs btw, you can eat undercooked eggs as long as they're supermarket bought with the red stamps on them. That restriction was changed in UK already, because supermarkets can guarantee quality of the eggs coming from farmed chickens with any medical/vaccination records etc...