Hellobee Boards

Only if it's cooked. We've been pretty strict and by the book (for anything we're aware of). After 5+ years of TTC, I don't care how small the risk is, and if I'm more likely to be hit by lightening, I feel better not taking it right now.

I've had a handful of subs/bites so far during my pregnancy, as well as with my last one. I work in food safety, and knowing what I do about the listeria risk of PLENTY of foods that aren't even mentioned to avoid during pregnancy, I've always taken this recommendation with a grain of salt. That said, I try to avoid the other foods I know have a much higher risk. And as said above - is the place clean and does it have a good inspection history? Do they sell high-volume meaning they are going to go through their meat inventory quickly and not have it sitting around? Things I consider.
I think about it like, when is the last time you heard about a listeria outbreak/recall due to lunch meat? I mean, the biggest recall lately was in ice cream and I don't see anyone telling pregnant women not to eat ice cream...

I ate jersey mikes while pregnant. My OB just said to make sure it was from a clean place. She also said basically what @lindseykaye said.. that the last listeria outbreaks were from fruit, icecream, etc and you dont see everyone restricting that from pregnant women.

@mediagirl: Yep! I stay away from pre-cut fruit salads (cantaloupe is a super risky fruit for listeria!) far more stringently than deli meat. And frozen veggies have been susceptible more in recent years, but these are likely to be cooked so it eliminates the risk if handled properly.

Duplicate post

I don't touch it early in pregnancy but I've had three cold turkey subs since hitting 20 weeks (31 weeks now). I don't remember hearing any type of recall of lunch meats due to listeria but it's in many other things like ice cream. I make sure to go to a high quality place that cuts their meat in house (aka not Subway).

@lindseykaye: @mediagirl: I switched from Chipotle to Qdoba when I was pregnant because of the lettuce thing.

Yes, and I didn’t heat the meat either. I just bought from places I trusted and used common sense that I’d use all the time anyway.
(Mostly in my first tri, for some reason I was obsessed with turkey sandwiches until the MS set in).

Yep, I didn't eat a ton but I'm sure I've had it here & there.

Ugh now I want one too! There's a Jersey Mike right down the road from my office!

I think I was more careful about it with my first, I always heated it up first.
More lenient with my 2nd, the occasional subway sub, or fresh shaved meat from the deli.

I followed the UK recommendations for pregnant women. They're actually factually based and not crazy like the us ones.
I ate whatever I wanted basically from reputable places. Nearly all the risk of food borne illnesses is on your body not the babies, so to me not a huge risk. I can deal with fluids if needed.

@lindseykaye: yup this exactly. I think reputable places that are clean and have no inspection issues are fine. I did this last with 2.5 year old and this time ~20 weeks and feel fine with it. Listeria is more likely to get you in bagged salad and no one is saying not to eat that to pregnant women...

@Silva: i meant food poisoning, but thanks for clarifying . I know listeria is riskier but you're more likely to get that from all the stuff they tell you to eat lots of, fruits and veggies so I just try not to think about that one while pregnant.

I hate how they use major scare tactics on pregnant women who are already anxious and experiencing something new

@MamaBear87: I totally agree. The book Expecting Better kind of made me more scared of food born illnesses and less scared of alcohol! I think we are told to avoid stuff without an explanation or information and that feels very patronizing

First pregnancy, no. Second and third pregnancies, yes. Sometimes toasted, but sometimes not. I always ate my sandwich right away, and didn't buy it from anywhere sketchy , but otherwise felt totally okay about it. Particularly once I was at a point where I could feel the babies movement, because somehow that just made me feel better.

@Silva: my ob was actually awesome and told me she had to give me the official list but said in her estimation I should just use my judgement and not eat somewhere that looked gross. That made me feel so much better.
I hate the food recs and the fact that they induce/c-section mommas because baby measures "big" on ultrasound. Totally my soap box

I ate it. I was not worried. As others have said, the risk is food poisoning, which has not been coming from turkey sandwiches. Overall health wise, the stuff they said to avoid was healthier than the stuff they didn't have a problem with (i.e. I don't buy the logic that I should go eat a big mac and a soda but not a turkey sandwich on wheat bread )

With my first one, I was more careful. With the second, I was at Jersey Mike's once a week. #7 for me!

Yes. I ate it. I loved the book Expecting Better for guidance on pregnancy.