Contents:
- Medical Video: Benefits and Uses of Mayonnaise
- What is mayonnaise?
- Is it safe to eat mayonnaise while pregnant?
- How to be safe if you want to eat mayonnaise while pregnant?
Medical Video: Benefits and Uses of Mayonnaise
Who doesn't like mayonnaise? It feels like that creamy, salty, savory, thick and attractive colors can certainly increase your appetite. Especially if the mayonnaise is combined with a burger complete with several pieces of cheese, just imagining it might make you hungry. However, you may not know that mayonnaise is made from raw eggs. What if you eat mayonnaise while pregnant? Can I?
What is mayonnaise?
Mayonnaise turned out to have been consumed since the 17th century by the French people. Creams made from a mixture of oil, water, eggs and some of these flavorings, were originally only made by a chef to celebrate the French war victory over England. But now mayonnaise has been made as a flavoring sauce still on some foods such as salad, sandwich and burger.
Is it safe to eat mayonnaise while pregnant?
The egg which is the basic ingredient in making mayonnaise turns out that most of the eggs are still raw. Raw eggs are suitable media for live bacteria, salmonella for example. During pregnancy, the middle body's resistance is in a low position so it is prone to exposure to infection. So consuming raw eggs will be very dangerous for both pregnant women and the fetus they contain.
According to data from the world health organization (WHO), salmonella is one of the bacteria that causes the most disease due to contaminated food. The case can even reach 40,000 cases each year. Salmonella is usually found in raw foods such as fish, meat and eggs. The number of such cases does not even include cases that are not detected or which are not reported.
Disease caused by the activity of salmonella bacteria is known as salmonellosis. This disease usually causes symptoms such as fever, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea which usually only appears within 12 to 72 hours after food enters the body. Steps that can be done to overcome bacterial activity in the body is to take antibiotics. But giving antibiotics to pregnant women has the potential to cause babies to be born with imperfect conditions (birth defects).
Complications can occur if the salmonella that is supposed to follow the flow of the digestive system in the body, but instead is in the bloodstream and infects other organs of the body. Complications caused by long-term salmonella activity in the body can cause immune disorders that cause joint pain (Reiter's syndrome), irritation of the eyes and digestive disorders, which are more often found in pregnant women than healthy adults.
Salmonella infection in infants is more severe than in adults. The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology even reported that even if the fetus had survived, it would still be exposed to the disease with an acute level that caused the baby to only survive with medical treatment and experience delays at the stage of growth and development.
How to be safe if you want to eat mayonnaise while pregnant?
In other words, eating mayonnaise during pregnancy is still permissible only if the eggs that are made from the basic ingredients of mayonnaise are cooked so as to minimize the potential for salmonella. Some steps you can take in choosing mayonnaise that is safe for consumption during pregnancy include:
- Find out in advance how the manufacturing process and the ingredients used before consumption. If the mayonnaise is a packaging product, you can check it by paying attention to the information on the packaging.
- Don't be shy to ask the seller or discuss with your doctor. Some people believe that mayonnaise originating from a large industry will be more likely to have gone through a heating process than a simple industry.
