Ok to Cheat?

MAG716 · September 2013

I'm 34 weeks and my mom and cousin are coming to help me pack (we move Saturday...eesh!) and they want Jimmy Johns for lunch later. I have been craving a meaty deli sandwich this entire pregnancy!!! You think if I get it toasted and cheat once today it'll be ok??

[Deleted User] · September 2013

I eat deli sandwiches weekly! As long as its a trusted place and hasn't been out for hours id say your good to go

rbtrumpet · September 2013

1) Jimmy Johns doesn't have the capability of toasting your sandwich - please don't freak out (there was a woman a few months ago who went crazy about this). You can eat it cold, or you can pass

2) I eat Jimmy Johns about every other week. My Bradley instructor said to avoid turkey (although I've had it plenty of times), but other deli meats are not as susceptible.

3) your chances of getting listeria is like 1/20,000 (or some crazy-small number - you're basically more at risk of getting in a car accident on your way to the restaurant than you are of actually getting listeria from eating there) - on top of that, the last few outbreaks of it have been in cantaloupe, so if you've eaten cantaloupe at all during your pregnancy, you've already taken a MUCH bigger risk than eating at Jimmy Johns.

MAG716 · September 2013

Ok, I'm doing it. Why do all these websites say to avoid it if it's not a huge deal?? And honestly, it's been more my husband who has been forbidding it...but he's not here!!

lamo1210 · September 2013

I hate jimmy johns, and I've avoided deli meat this whole pregnancy. It's not a big deal skipping it for me! DH is the one who won't let me have certain things.

christinacox2384 · September 2013

My doctor told me that eating lunch meat is just FINE as long as its not everyday! She actually told me that she has had patients actually get sick from eating other things not lunch meat, the listeriosis that is found on lunch meat has been known to be found on other foods (salad mix, cantaloupe, corn, ect... In her experience)! She said obviously she can't tell me to stay away from everything so just to be smart about what I'm eating and I can pretty much eat whatever I want (not raw fish though)... So enjoy your jimmy johns now I want it lol

GopherBaby13 · September 2013

If I had to avoid lunch meat, I would have starved during the first and second trimester when sub sandwiches is all I could stomach eating while having hyperemisis gravidarum. The chance of you getting sick is so small that even my doctor told me as long as its from Subway or Jimmy Johns, I could eat it every day if that's all I could handle eating.

jaymayhatton · September 2013

I had Jimmy John's on Friday and it was the best thing ever!!!!

Littlemama01 · September 2013

Go for it, my DH is the sticker for me not eating certain things but he's been lightening up lately so I'm happy!

hollowway · September 2013

Psh. Eat it! I eat tuna...

Everything in moderation.

Jojo714 · September 2013

I eat it all the time and baby is good.

Justnooch · September 2013

The last listeria outbreak was in cantaloupe. The one before that was spinach. So to me, having deli meat every once in a while (limiting it just to avoid the nitrates) is no big deal.

amberrrjade · September 2013

Agreed, I get Publix subs with Boars Head meat all the time. It's delish and I eat the entire 12 inch in like 10 minutes. Of course I make a huge mess during the process.

DebateThis · September 2013

The reason the "restrictions" are in place is the fear of listeria in deli meat (and secondarily nitrates).

The problem with that is that the restrictions were put into place after a major listeria outbreak over a decade ago where a couple pregnant women either died or miscarried (14 people nationwide died in that outbreak, and it was the 2nd largest outbreak in history - the largest was related to cheese and 50 people died then). Since that outbreak, the USDA and FDA have implemented new packing and transportation regulations for lunch meat and there hasn't been a single outbreak of lunch-meat related listeria in the US. There have been a couple recalls of lunch meat for "possible" contamination but in my mind that means the new regulations are working since it was caught before it even got to the consumer.

PP's are also right that there have been listeria outbreaks relating to spinach, cantaloupe, and ricotta cheese and not a single one of those things is on the "pregnant no-no" list.