Last Updated on by Eat Better Move More
Can I Eat Crab Rangoon While Pregnant?
Pregnancy is a period in a women’s life heavily marked with great uncertainties, especially for first-time moms.
It is normal to think about what to eat, what to avoid, and many other questions, as some chemicals from food, medications, or even beauty products have the ability to cross the placenta and get to the developing baby.
When it comes to food, seafood is one of the most questionable categories for pregnant women.
Although seafood is high in protein as well as vitamins and minerals and low in fat content, there are some known risks, ranging from food poisoning to mercury intake that surrounds seafood consumption.
However, is crab rangoon safe for pregnant women, have you ever wondered “Can I eat crab rangoon while pregnant?
These are all normal questions for pregnant women, this article has an answer to this question and will help you understand if it is safe or not to eat crab rangoon while pregnant.
Can I Eat Crab Rangoon While Pregnant? Safe or Not?
Let’s cut to the chase, if thoroughly cooked you can safely enjoy crab rangoon while pregnant. So here is the thing, the dangers of consuming seafood while pregnant lies only if you eat it raw or uncooked.
Seafood and other types of meat might foster pathogens bacteria that can potentially produce foodborne illness, which is extremely dangerous for pregnant women as it can lead to miscarriage.
That said, in order to mitigate the risks of getting infected with any harmful bacteria, it is recommended to follow some food safety guidelines.
These guidelines include certifying that the seafood has reached a temperature of 75°C or 165°F in its interior and only consume it while hot as well as being careful while handling raw seafood to avoid cross-contamination, bacteria can be transferred from one food to another if you use the same kitchen utensil.
For instance, even a portion of food that is completely cooked can become contaminated if it touches other raw food or the same surface where the raw food was placed. For this reason, it is recommended to wash your hands, kitchen appliances, and surface thoroughly right after using them.
Can I eat Imitation crab While Pregnant?
It is important to notice that, this tasty appetizer consists of wonton filled with cream cheese, crab or imitation crab, and seasoning.
Crab rangoon is cooked by either deep-frying or baking.
Imitation crab, also known as crab sticks are made of a paste from fish or other land animals’ meat.
The meat is minced and rinsed in order to remove unwanted parts and odors. Although it is called crab sticks, they usually contain little to no crab in them. Pollock is the most common fish used to produce crab sticks or other fish products.
As a matter of fact, “real” crab is considerably superior nutrition-wise than its counterpart, imitation crab.
Although they have a similar calorie count, real crab is superior in terms of vitamins and minerals content.
Moreover, imitation crab contains starch and added sugars, less protein, and it is considered a highly processed food.
The bottom line is, if you are pregnant you should prefer real instead of imitation crab. Nonetheless, if the only option for you is imitation crab, it does not mean that you cannot eat it, just watch out for the amount consumed, generally, the quantity of crab used to make crab rangoon is minimum so it should not pose any risk for you.
The most important thing here is to make sure that whoever prepared this followed the food safety guidelines in order to prevent food poisoning.
Can I Eat Cream Cheese Wontons While Pregnant?
Dairy products are another group of food that scares some pregnant women and they should be handled with care.
Dairy products are at risk of being contaminated with bacteria. The most common bacteria present in dairy products are Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Campylobacter all of which pose a major threat to pregnant women.
Having said that, in order to safely consume dairy products, pregnant women should only choose the options where the packaging label reads “pasteurized”.
This refers to a process where packaged and non-packaged dairy products are treated with a high temperature in a short time in order to eliminate harmful pathogens and increase shelf life while still preserving product’s characteristics.
So, if you would like to eat cream cheese wontons, there is no problem as long as they are made with pasteurized cream cheese.
For your tranquility, most commercial dairy products brands apply pasteurization in their manufacturing process.
What Seafood Can’t You Eat While Pregnant?
It is important to mention that not all types of seafood are recommended for pregnant women, and the reason is not related to foodborne illness, instead, it is related to the high mercury content in some fish.
A low level of mercury in the bloodstream does not pose any significant health concern in healthy adults, however, unfortunately, the same does not apply to babies, mercury can harm a fetus’ developing brain.
Moreover, mercury has the capacity to be passed to the baby during breastfeeding. For this reason, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should avoid eating high mercury level seafood.
According to the FDA, these are the highest mercury content seafood that you should avoid eating while pregnant and breastfeeding:
- King mackerel
- Marlin
- Orange roughy
- Shark
- Swordfish
- Tilefish
- Tuna, bigeye
Can I Eat Crab Rangoon While Pregnant Conclusion
Crab rangoon is a tasty fried appetizer that many pregnant women have desired. If you have asked yourself “Can I eat crab rangoon while pregnant?” the bright side is that yes, you can!
Nonetheless, when it comes to animal products, caution should be exercised, as they might be contaminated with harmful bacteria that can make their way into your body producing foodborne illness, which can be threatening during pregnancy.
This does not mean that you should avoid eating animal products – unless you are not sure about their safety – the best option is to prepare them at home and follow strictly the food safety guidelines mentioned in this article, by doing this you will protect not only your health but also your baby’s health.
