Is it safe to eat hawker food while I’m pregnant?
Jennifer Hor
Jennifer Hor reviews breastfeeding, nutrition and pregnancy articles
It depends on what hawker fare you want and where you want to eat it. When you are pregnant, your immune system does not function as well as usual, so you are more susceptible to food poisoning. This means you need to be mindful of hygiene standards and preparation methods when it comes to food and drink.
Some hawker centres, mamak stalls and street food carts have not been vetted for hygiene and safety. Many of the people who run them are not trained to follow food safety standards or simply fail to observe them because of the lack of enforcement. So, if before pregnancy, you were happy to indulge in your favourite roadside rojak without worrying about how the raw ingredients were prepared, remember that things are different now that you are pregnant. Read more about the danger signs to look out for when eating out or buying takeaway.
On the other hand, no one could blame you for getting those cravings! Malaysia is famous for tasty street food, and few Malaysians reach adulthood without having a favourite ais kacang or Ramli burger stall. Here, eating out is a habit and a social ritual.
Yet, most of the food that is available at the roadside vendor's stall can be prepared at home as well. If you prepare your own "street food", you can make it to suit your taste buds and present dietary needs.You can opt for less salt or sugar and more nutritious ingredients. A good rummage through the local supermarket shelves will yield all manner of favourite curries, sauces and pastes in ready-to-cook, vacuum-sealed packets that can be prepared at home. All you need is a bit of know-how. Many food blogs and recipe books offer information on making local favourites. It won't be exactly the same, but it will also be temporary. You only need to be extra careful for these few months of pregnancy.
And if you truly cannot stay away from hawker fare off the streets, keep these tips in mind:
Some hawker centres, mamak stalls and street food carts have not been vetted for hygiene and safety. Many of the people who run them are not trained to follow food safety standards or simply fail to observe them because of the lack of enforcement. So, if before pregnancy, you were happy to indulge in your favourite roadside rojak without worrying about how the raw ingredients were prepared, remember that things are different now that you are pregnant. Read more about the danger signs to look out for when eating out or buying takeaway.
On the other hand, no one could blame you for getting those cravings! Malaysia is famous for tasty street food, and few Malaysians reach adulthood without having a favourite ais kacang or Ramli burger stall. Here, eating out is a habit and a social ritual.
Yet, most of the food that is available at the roadside vendor's stall can be prepared at home as well. If you prepare your own "street food", you can make it to suit your taste buds and present dietary needs.You can opt for less salt or sugar and more nutritious ingredients. A good rummage through the local supermarket shelves will yield all manner of favourite curries, sauces and pastes in ready-to-cook, vacuum-sealed packets that can be prepared at home. All you need is a bit of know-how. Many food blogs and recipe books offer information on making local favourites. It won't be exactly the same, but it will also be temporary. You only need to be extra careful for these few months of pregnancy.
And if you truly cannot stay away from hawker fare off the streets, keep these tips in mind:
- Stick to hot, cooked foods such as char koay teow or mee goreng mamak which are usually prepared only once you've placed your order.
- Avoid dishes with raw ingredients. Raw fruits and vegetables are often the cause of food poisoning and water-borne infections, such as hepatitis and typhoid. So, go for homemade fruit rojak and popiah. They are actually easy to make.
- Stay away from anything with sauces or condiments that have been left out in the open all day. The same goes for pre-prepared snacks such as pisang goreng or vade which are usually left on the open counter. It can be hard to tell how long the food has been sitting there, attracting flies. At the very least, it could well have been exposed to diesel fumes, smog, haze or cigarette smoke.
- Be extremely wary of iced drinks such as sirap bandung or soya bean. The ice used to chill the drink may not actually have been made from safe drinking water. As for freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, well you just don't know how well and often the cane-crushing machine is cleaned. Besides, bottled and canned varieties of these drinks are now widely available in supermarkets and sundry shops.
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