Food poisoning paranoia!

gingercatNJ · November 2015

Is anyone else having this issue? With all the incidents of things like salmonella and listeria showing up in places it's not supposed to be--cucumbers? cilantro? pasteurized hard cheese?? grocery store chicken salad??--I'm getting majorly paranoid about eating foods I didn't prepare myself.

Like I don't want to eat salad or fresh fruit in a restaurant, or soft serve froyo (I remember how hard it is to actually get those machines clean), or anything at the cheapie buffet my DH likes so much. I worked in too many restaurants, and I know how sloppy people get when it comes to food prep safety. (Hint, they probably didn't wash that lemon in your water...)

I'm usually not so cuckoo about it. I readily eat rare steak and raw sushi, but lately I'm super-nervous about eating something contaminated.

Am I the only one??

iamrandom · November 2015

I'm always conscious of food safety and the fact is that raw fruits and vegetables are an exceedingly common source of foodbourne illness. I rarely order salad, for example, from restaurants unless I really trust their sourcing/preparation/cleanliness. So yeah, you're not alone.

Motiejmr · November 2015

I had food poisoning around my 11 week mark. I was miserable. On top of it, it triggered morning sickness which I did not have prior for about 5 more weeks. Not sure I got it but probably a restaurant since I was on vacation in NYC immediately before I got sick. Since then I rarely eat out and I have stopped buying ground beef well because ecoli! Bummer. Doctor told me baby is usually safe even when mom suffers from food poisoning because your body has many defenses for baby. The main one you have to really be cautious of is listeria.

cmjenkies · November 2015

I follow some common sense rules when it comes to food but generally I eat whatever sounds good since I was limited to basically bagels for the first 6 weeks. No living in a bubble for me! :P

Hang in there!

Mailmans Baby Momma · November 2015

Do whatever keeps you sane.

I'm much more hesitant (probably due to my past) but there are girls who rock the deli meat, sushi, and soft cheeses train on a weekly basis.

RoseShadow873 · November 2015

Yeah I am paranoid about it too. I still eat stuff sometimes but then afterward I get all paranoid I got food poisoning and I even experience nausea from it but I think it's probably psychosomatic.

gingercatNJ · November 2015

RoseShadow873 said:

Yeah I am paranoid about it too. I still eat stuff sometimes but then afterward I get all paranoid I got food poisoning and I even experience nausea from it but I think it's probably psychosomatic.

Haha...that was me after I ate half an omelet and realized the eggs were runny.

gingercatNJ · November 2015

Mailmans Baby Momma said:

Do whatever keeps you sane. I'm much more hesitant (probably due to my past) but there are girls who rock the deli meat, sushi, and soft cheeses train on a weekly basis.

See, I always thought that would be me. And now at 39 years old, after 10 years of marriage, I am SO CLOSE and having such a smooth pregnancy that I'm afraid I'll catch a bad case of something because the prep cook was too hungover and rushed to wash the tomatoes...

ladylolly89 · November 2015

I'm a little paranoid about it as well, but that probably won't stop me from making (and eating!) some French silk pie for Thanksgiving. At least a little.

gingercatNJ · November 2015

ladylolly89 said:

I'm a little paranoid about it as well, but that probably won't stop me from making (and eating!) some French silk pie for Thanksgiving. At least a little.

Oh, that sounds sooo good....

geminioftwo · November 2015

I am just getting over food poisoning. Its been coming out of all ends. This is day 4 and I am finally starting to feel a little better. The noises that come from my stomach sound like a hurricane is near. So bad. So definitely be paranoid and be careful! It sucks!!!

Ellenlbishop · November 2015

Yes but my paranoia is less pregnancy related than general anxiety related. I'm definitely jump to worst case scenario especially when I hear about food poisoning outbreaks. I usually just tell myself its my normal anxiety and try to live as normally as possible.

pinottoparenthood · November 2015

Even if you prepare food yourself at home, ingredients that you purchased from the grocery store could be unknowingly contaminated. It's impossible to completely avoid, so just follow the guidelines from your doctor and try not to worry about it too much.

pinottoparenthood · November 2015

ladylolly89 said:

I'm a little paranoid about it as well, but that probably won't stop me from making (and eating!) some French silk pie for Thanksgiving. At least a little.

wait, what is this and is it dangerous?

gracehopper27 · November 2015

This is French silk pie: https://www.marthastewart.com/355899/jean-websters-french-silk-pie

I think it's just the raw eggs that could be problematic.

ladylolly89 · November 2015

Yes, just because of the eggs. Though it can be made with pasteurized eggs from a carton (as long as they can be whipped). I haven't tried that method yet, but I may. Eating a little French silk pie isn't going to be any worse than eating raw cookie dough, and I have already done that.

BrittnyS10 · November 2015

I cant remember the last time i had french silk pie, but since you mentioned it it sounds soooo good right now. I might just pretend i didnt see anything about raw eggs in it. Ignorance is BLISS!!

RoseShadow873 · November 2015

I didn't think about pies! This would apply to meringue pies as well! I looked it up and yes you can use pasteurized eggs or you can precook egg whites with sugar to make them safe:

https://www.craftybaking.com/howto/eggs-cooking-techniques-safe-soft-meringue

ivyvines6 · November 2015

I swear I'm the only person who doesn't even pay attention to anything warning wise with food... I can't wait for homemade eggnog in a few weeks! It helps that I pretty much have no exposure to the media scares about all this hype. Now my typical diet is pretty much paleo unless it's the weekend, so deli meat? Not on my list anyway. If you follow the "rules" you aren't supposed to be eating chicken salad from the deli anyway...

Is this mostly a fear of processed foods, or from a restaurant?

gingercatNJ · November 2015

Knottie9983816 said:

I swear I'm the only person who doesn't even pay attention to anything warning wise with food... I can't wait for homemade eggnog in a few weeks! It helps that I pretty much have no exposure to the media scares about all this hype. Now my typical diet is pretty much paleo unless it's the weekend, so deli meat? Not on my list anyway. If you follow the "rules" you aren't supposed to be eating chicken salad from the deli anyway... Is this mostly a fear of processed foods, or from a restaurant?

Mostly raw produce at restaurants. Salads, fresh fruit, etc. The chicken salad is a bit of a red herring, I guess. Not something I really eat, just had been in the new recently. A little nervous about processed foods, though, as it's so random. Bluebell ice cream, Sabra hummus...you expect packaged foods to be safe from that sort of thing. It's scary.

UnbreakableKimmySchmidt · November 2015

Totally with you gals on food poisoning paranoia. Listeria has been in so much lately and then Chipotle (one of the fast casual that doesn't serve deli meat) had an e-coli outbreak so now we're avoiding that...

RoseShadow873 · November 2015

UnbreakableKimmySchmidt said:

Totally with you gals on food poisoning paranoia. Listeria has been in so much lately and then Chipotle (one of the fast casual that doesn't serve deli meat) had an e-coli outbreak so now we're avoiding that...

The Chipotle thing had me pretty paranoid. I'm in Oregon and ate there in that time period. Luckily the location I ate at didn't seem to have any ecoli.

AmadorRose · November 2015

@Knottie9983816 I'm with you; I don't really get hyped up about what may or may not have traces of bacteria because the veggies I get from store are just as likely to be contaminated as the ones from a restaurant and I don't wash them in soapy water or anything, I usually just rinse them. I grew up digging up potatoes, wiping them on my shirt, and eating them right there in the garden, dirty hands and all. I'm way more concerned about my a/s coming up in a couple weeks than I am about the very off chance I'll get food poisoning.

gingercatNJ · November 2015

@AmadorRose my doc says veggies don't need soap, just a good rinse and a bit of rubbing. But I know firsthand that a lot of restaurant produce only gets a few seconds under the sprayer. Grocery store produce isn't necessarily any cleaner, but we probably wash it better.

RoseShadow873 · November 2015

I have never used soap on fruit or veggies either. Can you do that? Some things I soak in a mixture of water and vinegar and then rinse them again.

Missingchampagne · January 2016

Resurrecting this post because I'm currently home with food poisoning. The Internet is horribly alarming, I've been sick since 5am, it's currently 10pm and I'm feeling a little better. I was vomiting with diarrhea before. Now there's no more diarrhea, I'm able to keep water down and little bits of Gatorade.

The baby is kicking and his heart rate sounds good, but I don't want to be negligent either if I should be going to the hospital. What would YOU do?

BrittaDJ · January 2016

Missingchampagne said:
Resurrecting this post because I'm currently home with food poisoning. The Internet is horribly alarming, I've been sick since 5am, it's currently 10pm and I'm feeling a little better. I was vomiting with diarrhea before. Now there's no more diarrhea, I'm able to keep water down and little bits of Gatorade.

The baby is kicking and his heart rate sounds good, but I don't want to be negligent either if I should be going to the hospital. What would YOU do?

Sorry to hear that you're sick! I would definitely call your doctor (they should have people on call to answer) and find out what how they think you should proceed. That way, you will know if they think you need to be seen at the hospital right away or if you can potentially wait it out. Good luck!

kalanieileen · January 2016

Missingchampagne said:
Resurrecting this post because I'm currently home with food poisoning. The Internet is horribly alarming, I've been sick since 5am, it's currently 10pm and I'm feeling a little better. I was vomiting with diarrhea before. Now there's no more diarrhea, I'm able to keep water down and little bits of Gatorade.

The baby is kicking and his heart rate sounds good, but I don't want to be negligent either if I should be going to the hospital. What would YOU do?

I had terrible food poisoning in my first tri! The nurse advice line had told me to keep an eye on my temp.. I had a fever. The minute it went over 101 go to ER.
If I was continuing to experience vomiting and diarrhea for over 24 hours to go in for IV fluids.
If you do call nurse advice line they obviously can't diagnose you, and they are trained to basically just say come in for worst case scenario. Mine had told me that I was possibly experiencing miscarriage over the phone so take what they say with a grain of salt.

If you feel terribly dehydrated I say go in for IV fluids. I felt loads better after my two bags.

Missingchampagne · January 2016

Thank you.

By midnight I was able to hold water down. Today (day 2) I'm feeling a little better, fever was up to 99.9 yesterday but it's back down again. I even ate a piece of toast without my stomach going insane. So I think I can avoid the ER this time around.

My doctor basically pins it back on me with a bunch of questions "Do you feel like you need to be in the ER? If you feel very badly, go to the ER."

And I'm like ahhhh, I don't know!!

AshleyM1985 · January 2016

Lets just say that good poisoning at 22 weeks is not ideal. When all that comes up is foam it sucks.

Missingchampagne · January 2016

AshleyM1985 said:
Lets just say that good poisoning at 22 weeks is not ideal. When all that comes up is foam it sucks.

Ugh it's terrible! And the horrible pain of your stomach/chest spasming to puke while sharing the space with a baby and a bunch of squished organs.

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