It is my hope that you can enjoy a healthy and worry free pregnancy!

I have included the following section, not to give you lots of things to worry about each day, but to give you tips on how you can avoid illness and eating potentially harmful substances during your pregnancy.  A number of food safety issues become more  important to women before and during pregnancy because pregnant women can be more vulnerable to foodborne illness, as well as food pathogens and chemicals, that may harm the developing fetus.

Some helpful general advice on food hygiene as well as guidance on potentially harmful foods and substances to be avoided when pregnant are detailed  in the sub-sections below:

• Food Hygiene
• Food pathogens – e.g. listeria and salmonella
• Toxic food components – e.g. dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• High concentrations of specific dietary substances – e.g vitamin A
• Alcohol
• Caffeine intakes in pregnancy
• Contamination of fish

Food Hygiene

General good hygiene is best practice throughout pregnancy. The following suggestions will limit the potential risk of exposure to food pathogens:

• Wash your hands before preparing food.
• Wash fruits and salads before eating
• Keep a separate chopping board for raw meats
• Wash hands after handling raw meat
• Wash hands after handling pets
• Keep an eye on sell-by dates and ensure that any out of date foods are thrown out.
• Wash down surfaces with suitable disinfectant after cooking
• Regularly throw away dish clothes
• Try to ensure that any young children in the household also wash their hands before helping with cooking, after going to the toilet and after sneezing and that they use a tissue for a runny nose whenever possible
• Ensure all reheated foods are hot throughout.

 

 

 

Food Pathogens – Avoiding Foodborne illness in Pregnancy

Certain foods are best avoided in pregnancy because they may contain food pathogens that have the potential to harm an unborn baby.

Table  1: Foodborne Pathogens that can potentially cause harm during pregnancy:

Although the table above appears alarming, exposure to these food pathogens is quite straight forward by the avoidance of just a few key foods and wearing gloves (rubber, latex or plastic) when gardening or handling cat litter.

Table 2: Foods That Potentially Contain Food Pathogens

Avoiding Toxic food components during Pregnancy

Contamination of Oily Fish:

• Mercury
  
  Mercury is a naturally occurring element, which is released into the environment from both natural sources and as a result of industrial pollution. In water, mercury is converted through microbial action to the more toxic Methylmercury. Fish accumulate methylmercury in their tissues from both the water and from their diet and species that are near the top of the food chain (e.g. shark, swordfish, certain species of large tuna, etc.) accumulate larger amounts through eating other fish. Methylmercury is thought to be harmful to the developing nervous system of a developing baby and, for this reason, the Food Standards Agency advises these fish are avoided by children and women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning pregnancy within the next year.  For the same reason intakes of fresh tuna should be limited to twice a week, or no more than 4 medium tins of canned tuna per week (FSA, 2005b).
  
  
• Dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
  
  Dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs are industrial pollutants that are widespread in the environment. At high concentrations these chemicals can cause harmful effects on human health and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and national food safety authorities are responsible for providing independent advice on food safety issues with regard to these chemicals. Public concerns were raised earlier this year following the publication of a study by US researchers, suggesting that the levels of organic pollutants, including dioxins and PCBs, in farmed salmon could pose a health risk. Whilst this particular study did not stand up to scrutiny by international toxicologists and other food safety experts, I believe women who are hoping to conceive, pregnant women and infants and children should consume limited amounts of farmed salmon consumption.
  
  
• Unwashed Fruit and Vegetables:
  
  Use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers and others is common farming and agricultural practice. Ensure any surface chemicals are removed from foods by always washing and/or peeling fruit and vegetables before eating or cooking.

Toxic concentrations of specific dietary substances: Liver and liver products and supplements containing high concentrations of vitamin A.

Dietary vitamin A is found in two forms, as pre-formed vitamin A (retinol) which is found in animal products, and vitamin A pre-cursors in the form of carotenes. High intakes of the pre-formed vitamin A, retinol, may be toxic to the fetus. Vitamin A, as retinol, is now commonly added to animal foods to promote reproductivity and immunity. As a result, liver and liver productsoften  contain very high concentrations of retinol (possibly as much as 18 times the Nutrient Reference Intake value for a pregnant woman.

Liver and liver products such as, Pâté, and supplements containing high concentrations of vitamin A, such as cod liver oil, shouldtherefore be avoided. That said, vitamin A is an important component of a healthy, balanced diet and other sources such as dairy produce, fat spreads, eggs, carrots and leafy vegetables should be included as part of every pregnant women’s diet.

Alcohol in Pregnancy:

Alcohol passes straight through the placenta into the baby’s bloodstream, if you drink so does your baby. There is a lack of agreement on what is a safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists reviewed the evidence and concluded that more than 3 alcoholic drinks a week during the first trimester of pregnancy could lead to an increased risk of spontaneous abortion. In early pregnancy, high intakes of alcohol can affect fertility and cause damage to the embryo, in later pregnancy high alcohol intakes have been known to result in low birth weight and a variety of infant abnormalities.  Until it is better understood what the affects of lower intakes of alcohol are, the Department of Health’s guidelines (2009) recommend that pregnant women, and women who are trying to conceive, should avoid alcohol.

I don’t advise that you drink during your pregnancy, but should you be tempted to have a odd glass or two then its best to be aware of how many units you are drinking. It often surprises people how many units are in a glass of wine; actually many think that a glass of wine is just one unit. It’s best on pregnancy to know where you are, so the table below provides a useful reference of how many units are in a particular measure of alcohol.

Table 3: Units per standard measure of alcohol.

Caffeine in Pregnancy:

Caffeine occurs naturally in a range of foods, such as coffee, tea and chocolate, and it’s also added to some soft drinks and ‘energy’ drinks. Flu remedies, allergy remedies and other medication may also contain caffeine, it’s a good idea to chat to the pharmacist before purchasing any medications while you are pregnant.

It’s important not to have too much caffeine because caffeine can result in fetal growth restriction, the risk increases with higher caffeine intakes.  Growth restriction can result in a baby with a low birth weight, and also an increased risk of health problems in later life. High levels of caffeine may also cause miscarriage.

Caffeine consumption tends to automatically decrease in the first trimester of pregnancy and increase in the third. Sensible advice would be to reduce caffeine intake before conception and throughout pregnancy. Approximately 200mg of caffeine a day is considered a reasonable intake. The amount of caffeine in food and drink varies, but Table 4 is a useful guide.

Table 4: The Caffeine content of foods and drinks

This entry was posted on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 5:37 PM and is filed under Pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.