Chances of listeria?

[sdova]

I crave sandwiches all the time, and was eating them practically everyday until about 15 weeks when I heard you shouldn't eat lunch meat while pregnant. I ate them much less, but once in a while. I was craving it a lot today, and read as long as you heat it up it okay. So I got a package of turkey, and ham. When I got home I began cooking something else for my husbands dinner tonight, and forgot about the lunch meat on the kitchen counter. It had to be out for an hour to 2 hours on the kitchen counter, it was kinda warm, and without thinking I threw it in the microwave, and made a sandwich. Now that I thought of it I'm freaking out that I might have exposed my baby to listeria. It wasn't left out too long but its was kind of hot in my kitchen since I was cooking, and the meat was warm before I heated it. Could not refrigerating it right away have caused listeria to grow, and if I cooked it, would that have killed it?

 

[sashadoll]

I am not to sure but from what I've read you would know if you are sick or not. I'd double check with doc but you warmed it in the microwave. I had a scare with my fruit and listeria outbreak last week all is well. Sorry I'm not much help.

 

[DissySunshine]

I eat lunch meat like it's going out of style. I really think you will be fine...but if you start feeling ill, of course go see your doctor right away!

 

[Mushymilkfor2]

I eat lunch meat like it's going out of style. I really think you will be fine...but if you start feeling ill, of course go see your doctor right away!

Ditto for this! I have a sandwich everyday with lunch meat. The chance of getting listeria is low anyway, and the risk does not increase just because you're pregnant. The only thing that is worse while pregnant, is it can affect your baby as well.

 

[Anaconda]

Your probably fine. I love my subway and find myself always craving my usual sandwich from there.

When I wasn't pregnant I ate some bad lunch meat and new right away. It wasn't listeria but I got sick. So you'd no if you ate some bad meat.

If you start feeling ill it wouldn't hurt to see your doctor

 

[AnonymousCAT]

I think you'll be fine. May not want to put it back in the fridge though to eat later if there is some left over

 

[siobhankerry]

i think u will be fine, i eat a subway agood few times a week ( yes im a greedy pig lol but baby loovves it hehe) .. if u start to be sick really bad or having an upset stomach ( outwith normal pregnancy sickness if u suffer from it) then i would just phone & say to ur doc, but chances are slim & if we didnt eat all the things we were told to avoid during pregnancy then tbqh we wouldnt be able to eat lol! Just go & enjoy whatever it is ur wanting to eat ! xx

 

[Chameleon]

You should be fine for Listeria. The risk of the bacteria being on lunch meat is quite low in the first place (I still eat deli meat without microwaving occasionally). You are right that leaving it at room temp for hours can cause growth, though--so you were very right to microwave it in this case.

Just a heads up for folks in the future--microwaving/cooking will kill bacteria growing in food. For Listeria, that's enough; listeriosis is caused by the bacteria itself. HOWEVER, there are some bacteria that produce toxins that will NOT be destroyed by the heat, even though the bacteria themselves are. The biggest culprit is Bacillus cereus, which is a big fan of rice. So it's a really good idea not to leave food out for too long in general. It won't hurt the baby, but it can make you unpleasantly sick.

(I study microbiology and like talking about bacteria, so sorry for the long post!)