Can you eat kebabs when pregnant?
Hannah Weiss
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Find out if it's safe to eat kebabs during pregnancy, including doner kebabs, chicken kebabs, lamb kebabs and veggie kebabs. Plus, precautions to take to keep you and your baby healthy.
The official advice on eating kebabs in pregnancy
Great news! Doner kebabs and delicious spicy skewers are generally safe to eat while you're pregnant. Just ensure that any meat in your kebab is thoroughly cooked first, with no trace of blood or pink. This includes lamb, chicken, pork, beef and duck. Veggie kebabs are perfectly safe to eat too.
The NHS advises against eating raw or uncooked meat during pregnancy. If you eat pink meat, there is a small risk of getting toxoplasmosis. This is a condition that can cause miscarriage or lead to complications in pregnancy. It's caused by a parasite found in raw meat, soil and cat poo.
If you're getting a takeaway, you might want to take a bit of extra care about hygiene, as you're more vulnerable to food poisoning while you're pregnant. Look out for a Food Standards Agency certificate. This is often displayed in the shop window, or on the van. A food hygiene rating of 4 or 5 means that the van's standards were good or very good at the last inspection.
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If you're having yoghurt as a dip, ensure it's made with pasteurised milk. According to the NHS, unpasteurised dairy products can contain a kind of bacteria called listeria. This can cause listeriosis, an infection which could make your newborn baby unwell, or lead to miscarriage or stillbirth. Most yoghurt sold in the UK is pasteurised, though – if not, it should say 'unpasteurised' or 'raw' on the pack.
Delicious kebab recipes
Love kebabs? Why not try one of these great pregnancy-safe recipes? Just ensure the meat is well cooked with no trace of pink.
- Spicy chicken kebabs
- Lamb kofta kebabs (use yoghurt made with pasteurised milk)
- Fakeaway slow cooker doner kebab
The Day-by-Day Pregnancy Book: Count Down Your Pregnancy Day by Day by Dr Maggie Blott is packed full of advice from a team of experts to help guide you through your pregnancy from conception to birth. See more details here at Amazon.
Looking for more pregnancy diet info? Check out our articles below, or swap tips with other mums-to-be in our forum.
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