One of the things that many women misbehave during pregnancy is not being able to take serrano ham or any other sausage during pregnancy to avoid the spread of toxoplasmosis. There are usually many doubts about whether it is possible to eat sausage after cooking or freezing it, because apparently there is no consensus on this, and many doctors have different opinions. Let's try to clarify the issue a bit.
Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by a parasite called toxoplasma gondii that is parasitizing the meat of many animals, including the pig. It is a disease that if contracted at another stage of life is usually asymptomatic and does not give any clinic or only some nonspecific symptoms similar to those of the flu, but that if acquired while pregnant can be transmitted to the fetus and produce very serious problems.
That is why during pregnancy several blood tests are carried out in which it is sought if the future mother has previously passed the disease (and has been immunized for her) or if on the contrary she has never had contact with her, and therefore still You have the risk of getting it and transmitting it to the baby.
In the latter case, the mother is prohibited from consuming unprocessed meat products and sausages, as well as unwashed fruits and vegetables that can carry the bug. It is also recommended not to have a close treatment with cats, since the toxoplasma usually parasites them and they excrete it in the feces when they have been infected.
The toxoplasma dies at high cooking temperatures, so if you can eat well cooked products during pregnancy, this includes cooked ham, chopedd, mortadella or turkey. For example, if you can eat a sausage well passed through the pan. A temperature of more than 65 degrees must be reached when frying them, that is, the microwave is not enough. Eye, the ham is not cooked, just cured.
Regarding freezing, the parasite does not withstand temperatures of 20 ° C below zero for 2 days or 10 ° C below zero for 3 days, therefore you can eat food that has been frozen at 10 degrees below zero or more provided they have been frozen for a few days, and then they have been thawing them slowly. The problem is that some of our freezers do not reach these cold temperatures, so they are not valid to destroy the parasite, so you have to make sure before using this method.
Apart from cooking, freezing or not, what we have to take into account is that the packaged products that we can buy in large supermarkets and trusted brands have passed rigorous quality controls and should be free of the disease, so They could eat all well packaged foods. Avoid products at all costs directly from the killings.
Regarding the transmission through a cat, it should be known that they only acquire the infection if they are in contact with soil (since the toxoplasma can remain infectious for a long time in the moist soil) or if they eat infected meat. If you have a cat at home, the first thing that should be done is an analysis to the cat to see if the infection happened or not. Once he has passed it, he is immunized and can no longer infect it. Therefore if the cat passed the disease, the problem is over.
If it did not happen, the possibility that the cat acquires it is very remote. If it is a cat that never leaves the house, the only possibility that it is spread is eating raw meat. If you have been going out on the street for a long time, the chances are that the disease has passed. In addition, if you contract it, the period in which the parasite is releasing is only 15 days, so it is quite unlikely that we will get infected.
General recommendations to avoid the spread of toxoplasmosis:
- Cook the meat well.
- Wash your hands well after handling raw meat.
- Do not drink milk or raw eggs.
- Sanitize fruits and vegetables.
- Avoid gardening work.
- Avoid contact with cats. If you already have cats:
- Give them commercially prepared or otherwise prepared foods that are well cooked and not raw
- Have your excrement cleaned by other people, always using the drawer, emptying it daily and periodically disinfecting it.
- Wash your hands well after contact with them
In Babies and more | Avoid toxoplasmosis
In Babies and more | Toxoplasmosis, the danger of a cat if you are pregnant
