When you are pregnant you should eat the best foods for your baby while at the same time avoid certain foods that may be harmful. However, it’s not always clear whether you should eat certain foods or not and salad cream is just one example. This article looks at its ingredients to see whether it’s suitable to eat during pregnancy.
What is in salad cream?
The main ingredients in salad cream are water, oil, vinegar, egg yolks, thickeners and flavourings.
The exact ingredients in salad cream vary slightly from brand to brand but they all generally have egg yolks which is the ingredient that many mums worry about. However, this should not come as a worry as these egg yolks have been pasteurised. This means that they’ve been heated and any bacteria have been killed.
If you are still worried, there is also a vegan version of salad cream which contains no eggs or dairy products.
Eating eggs in pregnancy – Guidelines
Eggs are one of those foods that pregnant women are recommended not to eat due to the risk of salmonella infection which is a serious illness if you get it during pregnancy.
Salmonella can cause an infection of the amniotic fluid and in the worst-case scenario a miscarriage. This is rare but it just shows that salmonella can cause some serious complications in pregnancy. This is the reason why eggs are best to be avoided as they sometimes carry this bacteria. But this is only true for raw eggs. If eggs are well cooked, any bacteria is destroyed and they are safe to eat by pregnant women.
Is salad cream safe in pregnancy?
Salad cream bought in a supermarket is completely safe to eat in pregnancy as it contains pasteurised eggs, not raw eggs. However, you should avoid homemade salad creams as these are likely to contain raw eggs which are best to be avoided.
When buying a salad cream in a supermarket pick well known brands with long tradition and strict safety standards such as Heinz.