What's the deal with eating hotdogs while pregnant?

[gurly]

I'm staying away from deli meat because of the listeria risk. Are hot dogs off limits for the same reason? What if its cooked really well?

[Kitty0911]

Hotdogs are on the list too. My doctor told me I can eat any deli meat or hotdog as long as I cooked them to an internal temp of 160F. I like my hotdogs burnt anyway, so that wasn't hard :)

[gurly]

Thanks! I like them very well done too lol

[Hokievol]

There are also a lot of nitrates in hot dogs, so that makes them not good to eat a bunch of.

[atomic sagebrush]

you can actually have deli meat provided it's heated!

[Tiggerian]

Okay, I'm in the UK - but I've never heard that we can't have deli meats or hot dogs.

[atomic sagebrush]

no one ever said it till a few years ago - none of these warnings were ever given when I was preggo with my older boys. The deal is that in very rare circumstances there can be listeria in these products that can cause your baby to become sick and even die in utero. It doesn't happen much at all and when it does, it's usually in unpasteurized foods like soft cheese, but it can happen in deli meats and hot dogs rarely. If you heat the stuff up to steaming hot before you eat it then it's ok. Never eat unpasteurized stuff when you're pregnant though.