A midnight preggo Maccas run because bub is craving all the nuggets is totally acceptable, but what about adding that Oreo McFlurry to the order?
Nearly 20 weeks pregnant and I bought a McFlurry from Maccas. Ughhhhh! I couldn’t help myself! Why aren’t we allowed soft-serve ice cream?
Midwife Andrea Fallon from Wholehearted Family Health says it’s best to avoid soft-serve ice cream during pregnancy, but there may be good news in the future.
“Pregnant women have lowered immunity, making it harder to fight off illness and infections. Listeria bacteria can take advantage of this and cause listeriosis infection, with the risk of infection seeming to be highest in the third trimester of pregnancy.
“Although listeriosis infection is rare, the potential consequences are serious and include miscarriage and stillbirth. Historically, soft-serve ice cream (like a McFlurry) has been classified as high risk for listeria, as the bacteria had been detected in past samples, and was likely due to poor hygiene and cleaning of the dispensing machines.
“However, there have not been any reports linking soft-serve ice cream to any cases of listeriosis in Australia. Recent improvements have been made to the safety of soft-serve ice cream including self-pasteurising machines and research is being done to work out whether it is still advisable to avoid soft serve.”
