Ranch dressing, along with most other salad dressings, is delicious. Ranch goes with everything and is a staple in the American diet. Some are afraid the dressing contains raw or undercooked eggs and stay away from it (2). However, if you check the label for egg content, you’ll find that it does not contain eggs. Therefore, you’re free to continue your love affair with one of America’s best dressings.
There are plenty of other specific foods you may not be sure about eating. Consider the ingredients while deciding what is safe for a pregnant woman to eat. Watch out for raw eggs, as they may put you and your infant in danger of salmonella poisoning (5). Because hollandaise sauce, bearnaise sauce and aioli sauce are made with partially cooked eggs, they should be avoided. Avoid meringue desserts and homemade ice cream because the egg could be undercooked (5).Pregnant women should not eat sauces made at home like homemade mayonnaise or Caesar dressing, because the eggs may not be cooked up to temperature.
This may sound like a lot of restriction, but the good news is that store-bought salad dressings, are safe for pregnant women to eat. This includes mayonnaise, Kraft ranch, Caesar salad dressing, bleu cheese ranch dressing, and most other dressings. This is because the FDA requires all commercially produced dressings to be pasteurized. This means that the milk has been heated to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria (6). Purchasing most dairy products from your local grocery store, like sour cream, and cottage cheese would also be a safe bet. Another important thing is to check the list of the product’s ingredients for pasteurized eggs, which means it is safe to consume.
