Pregnant & Surviving the BBQ

June 3, 2009 at 7:00 AM by Cafe MicheleZ - Comments (0)

I went to two BBQs last weekend. One was at my sister's house and my husband manned the grill, so he made sure I got my organic beef burger cooked through without any pink. The other, though, has some undesirable meats cooking (I'm blaming my food aversions) and just the smell of the char made me want to toss my cookies. 

But I'm learning about some safer choices for pregnant women when it comes to BBQ.

Pregnant women are more susceptible to food poisoning, which you can get from raw or undercooked meat. While we can get really sick from things like E. Coli and  salmonella, it won't transfer to the placenta. Still, no one wants to be a sick mama -- that's not good for anybody.

Here are some BBQ tips:

• Frozen food should be thoroughly thawed before cooking.

• Store raw meat carefully (on lowest shelf) so the juices don't drip onto other foods, contaminating them.

• Don't cross contaminate your plates and utensils. The plate the raw meat came out on should be washed. Get a new clean plate for the cooked meat.

• Healthy Bump has an article that suggests to cook meat in oven, then transfer to the BBQ at the end for taste. This is because "well done meat cooked at high temperatures forms carcinogens such as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and HCAs (heterocyclicamines) on the surface or within the meat. One way to protect against this reaction is to half bake meats in the oven and then transfer immediately to the grill, cooking over a lower heat, and cutting off fatty, burned or charred portions before serving. Another technique to avoid charred meats is to cook them in foil pouches over low heat on the grill, which traps in moisture and flavor without burning."

• Make sure any fresh or cooked food is not left outside for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90 degrees) or it will spoil.

Have any other BBQ tips for expecting moms?

FILED UNDER: pregnancy health, summer safety