Pregnancy nutrition

[Bean2024]

Hi there! I am 15 weeks pregnant and a friend recently told me that hummus and tahini should be avoided in pregnancy because the tahini is most likely unpasteurised. This fact checks with some US or AUS articles online but the NHS recommends hummus as a good food to eat during pregnancy. Anyone else as baffled as me?!

[Kittykat198]

Non-idea but ate hummus throughout pregnancy and I’m sure hummus is one of the things the nhs has on the weening foods list too ( starting weening here soon).

Americans prepare food differently so it could be that. Milk and dairy in the uk has to say if it isn’t pasteurised so I imagine you are ok unless it says.

[Purpledoggy]

There have been a number of pre-prepared hummus recalls due to Listeria or other bacterial contamination. I believe home-prepared hummus is safer to eat for this reason but I had not considered whether the tahini needs to be pasteurised as the NHS doesn’t flag it. TBH almost anything can contain Listeria and I feel like we can reach a point where we’re scared to eat anything. Peanut and other nut/seed butter for example but these are also not things the NHS is telling us to avoid. I live on peanut butter so that’s not going on my miss-list! Xx

[Sunnyday33]

It's all to do with pasteurisation and the risk of listeria. In the UK we have strict food regulations so there's no risk.

[Eloquentia]

I ate lots of hummus whilst pregnant, remember spooning it down from the tub. I saw some mixed advice about it online but I think for any food you search for, there will be some website claiming it is not safe or tested enough for pregnant women...I took my guidance from the NHS website and the NIH one for the US.