Listeria Monocytogenes: Pregnancy
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether guidance is being issued to pregnant people to reduce the risk of infection from Listeriosis, including from ready-to-eat and chilled foods.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the National Health Service already provide advice to pregnant people to help reduce the risk of infection from listeriosis, including advice on ready-to-eat and chilled foods, at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/
The FSA advises that people at higher risk, including pregnant women, should take particular care with foods more likely to carry Listeria. This bacteria is commonly found in ready-to-eat products such as chilled pre-prepared foods, deli meats, smoked and cured fish, pâté, and soft cheeses. This is reinforced by NHS guidance, which advises avoiding certain chilled ready-to-eat foods, such as mould-ripened soft cheeses, unless they are cooked until steaming hot. The FSA and Food Standards Scotland specifically recommend that pregnant people avoid ready-to-eat cold-smoked and cured fish unless it is thoroughly cooked, due to the risk of severe illness.
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