Foods you can eat

Game and poultry must be thoroughly cooked or reheated. Pre-packed chicken in sandwiches, salads and picnics must be kept properly chilled before eating.

Salmonellosis, Listeriosis if food raw or undercooked.

Fish must be properly cooked. It is suggested that no more than two portions of oily fish (mackerel, herrings, pilchards, sardines, salmon or trout) a week. You should stick to no more than four cans or two steaks of tuna per week. If frozen beforehand shop or restaurant bought sushi and sashimi should be fine.

Raw or undercooked fish – Toxoplasmosis. Shark, Swordfish & Marlin – Excessive levels of mercury. Fish oil supplements – contains too much retinol.

All shellfish if eaten cold after being pre-cooked should be kept properly chilled and used before use-by date. Freshly cooked shellfish that is part of a hot meal should also not cause a problem.

Raw Oysters and Shellfish – Salmonellosis. Shellfish with no use-by date – Campylobacter.

All of the following, if heated until piping hot all through and kept properly chilled, should be safe for you to eat:- Quiches, pre-packed pies, pasties and pastry slices. Take special care with foods containing chicken, eggs or seafood.

Foods not reheated properly – Listeriosis. Cold Quiches – Salmonellosis. Slices of meat pie and other cold items from the deli – Listeriosis.

All fruits and vegetables must be properly rinsed or scrubbed clean under running water and can be eaten raw or cooked.

Unwashed fruits and vegetables – Toxoplasmosis.

Freshly made salads with well-washed ingredients and dressed salads prepared immediately before eating should be safe. Make sure all pre-prepared salads are used before use-by date. Apply the same rules to bean, potato or coleslaw salad.

Pre-prepared bagged salads if not re-washed – Listeriosis, Toxoplasmosis.

Hard cheeses are to be eaten in moderation (Asiago, Austrian smoked, Caerphily, Cheddar, Cheshire, Derby, Double Gloucester, Edam, Emmental, Feta (made with pasteurized milk), Gloucester, Gouda, Gruyere, Haloumi, Jarlsberg, Lancashire, Mozzarella (made with pasteurized milk), Paneer, Parmesan, Pecorino (hard), provolone, Red Leicester, Port Salut and Wensleydale. Soft cheeses:- Bel Paese, Boursin, Cottage Cheese, Cream Cheese, Curd Cheese, Fromage Frais, Mascarpone, Monterey Jack, Philadelphia, Processed Cheese spreads, Petit-Suisse, Quark and Pasteurised Ricotta.

All soft mould-ripened cheeses, even those made with pasteurised milk – Listeriosis.All unpasteurised cheeses, such as Fontina – Listeriosis or Salmonellosis.

Pasteurised, sterilized or ultra-heat treated (UHT) cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk and products made from them.

Untreated milk and products made from them – Salmonellosis, Ecoli 0157, Toxoplasmosis, Brucellosis.

Make sure that home-made ice cream and sorbets contain no egg white or yolk. Pre-packed ice cream and ice lollies kept in the freezer and ice-cream from ice-cream parlours.

Home-made ice cream and sorbets containing egg white or yolk and soft whipped ice cream from kiosks or ice-cream vans – Salmonellosis.

Mayonnaise, salad cream and mayonnaise-based dressing, store bought and made with pasteurised dried egg. Freshly cooked hard-boiled egg. Fried, scrambled eggs and omelettes where both the yolk and white are set through. Shop bought egg sandwiches and salads, and Scotch eggs.

Home-made mayonnaise, Bearnaise and Hollandaise sauces, Mousses and uncooked home-made Cheesecakes. Soft-boiled eggs and undercooked omelettes and scrambled, poached and fried eggs. Lightly cooked egg dishes, e.g., Tiramisu, Zabaglione, Crème Brule and Soft Meringues – Salmonellosis.

Meat should always be well done. Cured meats can be eaten in moderate quantities and only if cooked - many contain high levels of salt.

Steak Tartare and Carpaccio Beef, pre-cooked meat from a deli, uncooked cured and smoked meats such as bacon and hams e.g., Parma Ham and other forms of Prosciutto, sausages such as salami, Mortadella and Chorizo and air-dried meat. Cold meat loose from a deli. Liver and liver-based products for example pates and liver sausage – Toxoplasmosis, Ecoli 015, High levels of retinol, a form of Vitamin A considered armful to unborn babies.