Food anxiety

[Kipsie11]

Hello

I'm 31 weeks with non identical twins. I've had really bad anxiety this whole pregnancy (maybe due to ivf) and everyone around me has lost patience and just keeps saying 'go and see a therapist'. It makes me feel so alone as I don't want to see a therapist.

Anyway, my main anxiety is about food hygiene and I'm managing it by not eating out and making sure all my food is piping hot to kill listeria.

The thing is, yesterday I was so tired I decided to just have a tomato pasta microwave meal. I cooked it for the correct length of time and I temperature checked it to make sure it was over 75 degrees Celsius (165 farenheit), but got to the bottom and one of the bits of pasta was tinged green at the corner. So I checked the date on the packet and it was 3 days past it's use by date.

My DH says it's fine and gets mad if I show I'm worried about it, but I'm so scared that I might have got listeria. It can be symptomless, and the effects on my babies could be devastating.

Can anyone tell me hat I should do? The hospital said that use by dates usually have some give in them, and as lobg as I don feel I'll the hubs will be fine, but I know that's not true with listeria.

 

[Kipsie11]

Whoops, iPad autocorrect went crazy there! The hospital said that as long as I'm not ill the bubs will be fine.

 

[happysaurus]

Darling, you are fine, I promise, but I'll try and help. How long did you cook it for? Was it meat free pasta?

 

[Kipsie11]

Thank you for responding. It was egg pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, and I think I cooked it for 5 mins (700-800 watt microwave)....

 

[BadMamaJAMA]

Oh, sweetie. I feel for you. I imagine you're fine, but I understand your worry. .

 

[cat81]

I'm sure you will be absolutely fine. When not pregnant, I always eat things after the use by dates. Especially as there was no meat in it, I really wouldn't worry. x

 

[Quailpower]

Hi,

I used to work as a Food Safety Health Inspector.

Please dont worry yourself too much.

I know listeria sounds scary but the fact of the matter is that it is NOT as common as food safety pamphlets let off.

Listeria is contracted in 99.9% of cases from refrigerated produce that has not been heated. You would be more at risk from a packet sandwich than a hot pasta. Also listeria bacteria leaves no physical sign, so the pasta "looking a bit green" wouldnt indicate listeria at all.

Being a non-meat pasta and being only a few days past its use by the risk of food poisoning is very, very low.

As long as your food is heated to above 75* and is properly stored and refrigerated. I dont see ANY reason to worry about any kind of food poisoning.

Concentrate all your mania into cleaning surfaces and food prep areas (get that nesting going cleaning the inside of the fridge, boil the cutlery ect...) , as this will make you feel you are proactively protecting your food. And just be aware to not use anything like bleach on your food prep areas, get some nice eco-friendly cleaners.

 

[nullaby]

Your fine I was told its mostly from refrigerated meats.

 

[Bonnie11]

You will be fine. Like a Pp said I also used to work as a health inspector. Listeria is not as common as you would think. How many times have you had it in your life so far? I'm betting none.
If it makes you feel any better the ONLY thing I have stopped eating in pregnancy is pâté, not that I ate much before. I eat soft eggs, rare steak, deli meat, soft ice cream, cheeses etc etc. people have been carrying babies for years and try haven't all been dying from eating foods on that list. It's a general guideline and not something you have to live and die by. You will cause yourself more stress by living so constrained and worried by everything. I used to live abroad and it really opened my eyes to how regimented things are in the uk/us. Just try and relax and enjoy your pregnancy, you are more at risk if catching norovirus or gastro from another person than from food poisoning. You can't have got listeria from that pasta. Use by dates are a general rule, again not something to lie and die by. I will still eat meat or anything if its a few days out of date as long as it looks and smells fine. Nothing happens to that food at midnight on the date on the packet to suddenly make it unsafe to eat. It's the supermarkets covering themselves.
Relax and enjoy your pregnancy, you are incredibly unlikely to catch listeria and even if you did there is no gurantee it will harm the baby.

 

[theroselegacy]

I can relate, I battled with a lot of fear when it came to food. I was constantly nervous the meals I prepared were not cooked thoroughly. I was scared of food poisoning, cross contamination, and hygiene...I really felt like I became OCD about it. My husband ended up buying me a food thermometer which I love. And like some of the ladies in here have said, I came to learn as well that listeria is not as common as one would think. You will be fine!