Sandwiches from work canteen - what to choose?

Hey girls Have read a number of things in papers recently about sandwich contents & pregnancy. Just wondered if others have heard the same / have any opinion on which sambo fillings would be best to have / avoid from the ones below.... Here are the options. Note this is the work canteen so if this isn't a trusted source, hygienic etc I'm not sure what is! - Chopped chicken breast - I'm told chicken from delis is bad because of possible salmonella? - Processed turkey - same as above, but don't know if it might be a bit better because it's processed? - Processed ham - don't know if risk of salmonella / listeria / whatever is less than for chicken or turkey, but read there are nitrates in ham etc so is that bad for baby? - Egg mayo. I checked with the canteen and the mayo they use is pasteurised Hellmanns light mayonnaise so no problem there. Eggs are hard-boiled so presume they are good for me and a good choice? - Toasted sandwiches. Are they any better e.g. if I get chicken / turkey / ham in them and they are heated? Don't really fancy the idea of just cheese and tomato sandwiches - need something tasty and sustaining at lunchtime! The alternative is to bring in my own sambos which I would be very happy to do BUT - Sandwiches would be in a bag and out of the fridge from 8am to 12 o'clock or so. Is that not worse than the nicely refrigerated foods I get from the canteen? - If I use slices of chicken or ham that's deli meats anyway which you're told not to buy from the supermarket just as you're not supposed to buy them from the deli (some say) i.e. preparing them myself wouldn't make any difference. Oh yes, oops, got lettuce in my sandwich today. I'm not meant to get that either am I? You aren't supposed to buy bagged salads, so it would depend on if the canteen washed it fresh themselves I suppose. You see my point. It's hard to know what you're supposed to eat! Advice welcome!

I think you might be over worrying on this one GrungeBride.

Dunno Mrs Jay Kay, I never looked up sandwiches, the things I put in my post are all things that have been in the papers over the last few weeks. My question is - have other people heard the same? Is the danger of one (e.g. deli chicken) greater than others? It's a fair question I think.

Hi, Don't have an answer for you but know how you feel. I went into a bagel bar yesterday to grab something and didn't know what to order - was staring at menu board just ruling things out in my head. I work in a deli so am confident of the standards of cleanliness, refrigeration, handling etc of the products there but am still unsure if it's ok to eat things like prepared salads, processed meats etc. Any help on this would be appreciated, or are we just over-reacting? There seem to be so many lists of banned foods going around it's hard to know what to eat!

I have given up alcohol, caffeine, shellfish, undercooked meat (i.e my medium rare steak!) peanuts and un-pasteurised cheeses - processed meats and deli meats (from a clean deli) is one thing that I have never worried about and continue to eat. The books and leaflets that I have read, have never suggested avoiding processed meats or bagged salads - the only thing that I have read is that you need to be sure of expiry dates, avoid foods if you are not sure of their safety or cleanliness, and to make sure that all food is cooked until its well done. If the reasons above don't worry me then thats enough for me!!

It's funny that you should mention it, but it was the one thing my doctor mentioned to me which I hadn't expected. She just said that the slight chance of food poisoning from food not kept hot or cold enough in a deli was enough to warrant avoiding it for the 9 months. Maybe you could make some sambo's up at home ?!?! Sassy

The thing is, my sambos probably wouldn't be cold enough (have no access to a fridge) so the chance of food poisoning from them would seem to me to be higher than the chance of getting it from the food sold in the canteen!!! So I'm just trying to figure between chicken / turkey / ham / egg mayo etc, which are the least risky and I'll just stick with that!

I'm a veggie so I can't help you with meat stuff. If it helps I make my own sandwiches and bring them to work. They aren't kept in a fridge. I usually make cheese (it's about all I can handle at the moment). Sometimes I bring in buttered roll and chop a banana into it at lunch. I did it all through my last pregnancy and was fine so I can only assume I'll be ok this time around. I'm sure your canteen food is ok. Personally I'd be going for the egg mayo (but then I would ). DH is a bit wary about eating deli meats at the moment because of the Dawn Foods scare a while back but I'm pretty sure that's finished with at this stage. You could ask the canteen manager where they source their food from and it might put your mind at ease.

Sweetie, you're worrying too much.... If we were to take notice of every warning we'd eat absolutely nothing!!! If you're that worried about it perhaps you could get one of those cool bags - keep your sandwich in the fridge and then the cool bag would keep it cool until lunchtime.... just a thought. Try not to worry so much....

I was meant to recommend one of those too. Keep it in the fridge at home until you're ready to leave and it'll keep your sambo cool for youl