Baby Wants Meat and I Want To Avoid Listeriosis. Help?

[BeachgalNY]

Hi, all!

Apparently, our little-one-to-be is a serious carnivore, though she/he's somewhat pacified with vegetarian sources of protein. I'm having trouble, though, when I'm running around to appointments, and need to get food. I'd like to avoid the fast food restaurants, but most of my other fast, healthy go-tos (like Subway or Panera) mostly have lunch/deli meat, and I know I'm supposed to avoid it.

Does anyone know of some other good, healthy protein-packed options? Do you think I'd be okay having, say, a salad with cut up pieces of chicken from a fast food place? Or getting a sandwich with slices of steak or chicken--or would that be too close to lunch meat?

I wish I understood what causes deli meat to carry listeria so I'd have a better gauge of what's okay.

Has anyone else asked a restaurant like Subway to heat up their lunch meat to kill the listeria? If so, for how long did they need to heat it?

I'm really torn here. Maybe I just need to make and bring sandwiches with me.

 

[nevernormal]

The couple of times I've eaten at Subway, I've had the steak & cheese sub (toasted). But honestly, a lot of times they touch the veggies with the same gloves that they touch the meat so if the deli meat they use is contaminated, it would get on the veggies and everything else too. I love Panera but don't get a chance to eat there much so I've never really paid attention to any chance of cross contamination of lunch meat with other items (plus it wouldn't be as easy to see as Subway).

What about a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A (or other chicken place)? You can get a wheat bun at Chick-Fil-A. Or if you get a fried chicken sandwich or a burger, get one with lots of veggies on it. Skip the fries, get water instead of a soda. If I stop at Taco Bell I always get items from their Fresco menu. I'd probably be comfortable getting a salad at a fast food place, safety wise, I just hate paying so much for mostly lettuce!

How many appointments are you anticipating really? My appointments are usually at 10 a.m. so I either grab breakfast out before, or go to lunch afterward. But for the longest while it was just once/month so even if I didn't eat the healthiest, it was definitely in moderation as I wasn't doing it all the time. Now I'm down to weekly appointments so I've just gone home for lunch the past 2 times.

 

[AnakeRose]

I haven't really been worrying about lunch meat. I don't eat it very often to begin with so I don't think it'll be an issue. There's so much stuff out there that could potentially harm you and your baby that we'd have to eat sterilized food in a plastic bubble to be totally safe. Women have eaten foods they shouldn't be for thousands of years.

 

[Dream.dream]

As long as its heated meats are fine . From subway the chicken and meat balls and such are okay as long as they microwave them first .

Alternatively if carry something like a bag of almonds or peanuts. Around with you for protein. or if you k ow that you going out bring some thing else from home to make it easier

 

[BeachgalNY]

Thanks for the ideas! I really appreciate it.

Sadly, nevernormal, I'm a bit like your name: I can have up to 5 appointments during my days off. I've got a bunch of health and mental health stuff, so I'm always running here and there, and getting home in between is really hard. Today I had an 11:00 acupuncture appointment, and then a 1:30 PT appointment, and had to rush to my volunteer hours after that. So had to grab lunch on the fly. I did a veggie sandwich and heated chicken soup at Panera.

I really appreciate your wisdom about the gloves touching the meat and then the veggies. It's a really good point and worth considering.

Anakerose, I totally agree about how hard it would be to be totaly safe. Unfortunately, a friend got listerosis from a hot dog during her last pregnancy, so I'm especialy concerned about it.

 

[Equreuil]

Subway has several options that use fully cooked chunks of chicken breast. They almost always ask if you want it heated up, or the sandwich toasted. So there's one option for you.

I know you said you usually avoid the fast food places, but some of them have salads that are premade. All they do is warm up some chicken breast and add it to the top.

 

[sevenofnine]

Thanks for the ideas! I really appreciate it.

Sadly, nevernormal, I'm a bit like your name: I can have up to 5 appointments during my days off. I've got a bunch of health and mental health stuff, so I'm always running here and there, and getting home in between is really hard. Today I had an 11:00 acupuncture appointment, and then a 1:30 PT appointment, and had to rush to my volunteer hours after that. So had to grab lunch on the fly. I did a veggie sandwich and heated chicken soup at Panera.

I really appreciate your wisdom about the gloves touching the meat and then the veggies. It's a really good point and worth considering.

Anakerose, I totally agree about how hard it would be to be totaly safe. Unfortunately, a friend got listerosis from a hot dog during her last pregnancy, so I'm especialy concerned about it.

I was never even told deli meats were unsafe during pregnancy. And especially was never told a hot dog was unsafe... no mention of it on my list of do-not-eats!

I guess if you're worried about the diseases more associated with eating out (listeriosis, e coli, etc), I would say making your own lunch would be the best bet.

 

[iwantabub]

Deli meats are unsafe for two reasons... Firstly they aren't cooked.. Things like salami and ham aren't cooked to kill bacteria and secondly they are often left sitting in a deli cabinet where most of the contamination happens.


I eat subway ... But whatever I get I get toasted...

Deli meats and soft cheeses and raw fish and sushi are some of the only things on the list I worry about... Mainly because recently two women lost their babies here by eating some soft cheese

 

[sarsaparilla]

Do you live near a Firehouse subs? They steam all their meats before they make the sandwich. I've been told that the temperature is high enough to eliminate the risk. Check them out--I recommend the Italian!