Information regarding the consumption of meat and fish during pregnancy is not always clear and is sometimes even contradictory. Here is a summary of the information you need to know and the best tips to make sure that you are not at risk for your baby throughout your pregnancy.

Raw or undercooked meat very often contains bacteria or parasites, the best known being toxoplasm, responsible for toxoplasmosis, a disease that a pregnant woman can contract if she is not immune to it and which can contaminate the fetus in 30% of cases. Toxoplasmosis, while benign for the mother, can be very dangerous for the baby.

All raw (or undercooked) meats are concerned: beef, poultry, mutton, horse, duck, etc.

It is estimated that 4% of beef is a carrier of toxoplasma, and the numbers are soaring for meats such as horse, pork or mutton.

To avoid any risk, a blood test at the start of pregnancy can tell if you have antibodies against toxoplasmosis. If the severe test positive, you are immune to toxoplasmosis. If the test turns out to be negative, on the other hand, you are likely to contract toxoplasmosis during your pregnancy if you do not take precautions with the products affected by the parasite: raw or undercooked meat and fish, but also soil ( and therefore poorly washed fruits and vegetables) as well as cat feces.

For fans of raw meat: note that freezing meat at – 18 ° C will kill almost all bacteria. So you can buy fresh raw meat, pack it properly in a clean freezer bag, freeze it for at least 6 days and then enjoy it raw. But be careful not to simply place it in the freezer (the compartment often located at the top of the refrigerator which allows you to make ice cubes): be sure to freeze your meat in a real freezer, separate from the refrigerator part. Also, be sure to eat the meat the day you defrost it.

To avoid the risk of poisoning and parasitosis, the key is cooking the meat. The meat must in fact be cooked to a temperature of at least 67 ° C in the heart. This corresponds to a golden or even brown exterior appearance, with a very light pink almost beige center. “Medium” cooking (full cooking between 52 and 58 ° C) and “rare” (between 60 and 64 ° C) are therefore not appropriate during pregnancy.

However, if you take care to cook the meat thoroughly, you can eat almost all of them: beef, pork, rabbit, lamb, chicken, turkey, duck, etc.

Either way, keep in mind that just because the meat is grilled on the surface doesn’t mean it is well cooked on the inside. As a precaution, always check the cooking of your meat by checking its color inside: it must be pink or beige.

There are, however, a few exceptions to meat, even well cooked:

• liver meat: its very high content of vitamin A (retinol) can indeed be harmful to the fetus and cause malformations. As vitamin A needs are covered by a varied and balanced diet, it is recommended during pregnancy to avoid liver (lamb, poultry, calf, heifer) and cod liver oil which are the foods richest in Vitamin A.
• game meat: this is a precautionary principle with regard to food poisoning since it is always difficult to know its origin.

Most fish and seafood are safe to eat during pregnancy, again as long as they are well cooked.

Real health food, fish contain at the same time iodine, iron, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and especially Omega-3, whose needs are increased during pregnancy and which are absolutely essential. to the good development of the baby.

But be careful here again, some precautionary principles are to be expected:

• Avoid any risk of poisoning: choose fresh fish that you will cook well (it should not be pink to the core)
• Fill up on Omega-3: choose the most fatty fish because they are the richest in Omega-3. They are greatly involved in the development of fetal eye and brain cells.
• Beware of the mercury that accumulates throughout the food chain: prefer small fish and avoid large predators such as swordfish, marlin, sharks, etc.
• Ideally: eat fish twice a week, including fatty fish once.

So choose: herring, mackerel, fresh sardines, trout, eel or anchovies, pollack, sole, cod, perch, mullet, red mullet, hake, whiting, dab, etc.

To avoid any risk of poisoning, it is advisable throughout the pregnancy to avoid raw or undercooked fish such as sushi, sashimi, tartars and other ceviches (raw marinated fish).

Raw fish, especially when they have been emptied late, can indeed harbor a food parasite, anisakiasis, responsible for anisakidosis, commonly called “herring worm disease”. This disease appeared in Japan and it is starting to take hold in Europe thanks to the success of Japanese cuisine.

However, if you are really addicted to sushi, know that, like with meat, freezing eliminates any risk of contamination! Again, you can buy fresh raw fish (from the fishmonger), pack it properly in a clean freezer bag and freeze it for at least 6 days to then enjoy it raw. But once again: freeze well in the freezer part and not in the freezer! And remember to eat the fish the day you thaw it.

Good news: the misconception that all cold meats should be banned during pregnancy is false.

Cooked cold meats such as cooked ham, ham, mortadella, chicken fillet or turkey fillet can indeed be eaten. It is the same for blood sausage, sausage, andouille or andouillette provided that these products are well cooked, of course!

On the other hand, the following cold cuts are to be avoided during pregnancy because of the health risks they present: raw ham, chorizo, sausage, pâté, rillette, carpaccio, jelly products; etc.