Talk

p.s. A few useful French phrases:

Je suis enceinte. = I'm pregnant.

Lait pasteurise = Pasteurised milk

Avez-vous du fromage pasteurise? = Do you have any pasteurised cheese?

To order a well-cooked steak -

Bien cuit = well done

(Follow this request with "Je suis enceinte", and apparently the waiter won't get sniffy!) ;)

A bientôt!

Just be careful - it's not just whether cheese is pasteurised or not that makes it 'safe' to eat in pregnancy. It's risk of listeria that is the reason why soft cheeses such as Brie, etc are on the don't eat list.

NHS choices gives your bit of info on listeriosis if you're interested.

Have a lovely holiday!

Making me hungry! As pp said, be careful though as believe you cant eat goats cheese like Chevre due to the mouldy rind, regardless of whether pasteurised...

Yes, Chevre is a no-no due to the rind.

I would imagine the ash one is the same, sounds like a goats cheese. Sorry OP!

If you heat blue cheese, though, you should be fine. (I did a feature on this ages ago...)

I think all cheeses are ok if thoroughly cooked (correct me if wrong)

Fromage cuit you can eat.
Fromage cru you can't.

If you haven't had toxoplasmosis and most UK women haven't, then you need to be totally anal about making sure your meat is very well done. Absolutely don't eat it if it's not.

Yes, ALL cheeses are fine if cooked through.

I was told yesterday by MW all cheese is fine unless it has blue veins or white fur

From memory, I think it says on NHS choices that stilton is ok because it's hard

Pretty much All hard cheeses, like Compté and Emmenthal are fine except the blue ones. I would keep it simple and avoid the soft cheeses, except those that comes from a factory like Boursin or Vache Qui Rit.

Have a good holiday. The French, you might find, are much more relaxed about this kind of thing. I ate pretty much all my fabourite cheeses throughout my pregnancy. Wouldn't have touched blue cheeses if I liked them, but I don't.

You can eat goat cheese melted on a pizza or salad though... <drools>

OP I hope you have a lovely holiday (and I'm very jealous, I love France) but your list isn't right (see NHS link below).

The cheese rules re pregnancy:
- All hard cheese incl blues (both pasteurised and unpasteurised) = OK
- Pasteurised soft cheese without a rind = OK
- Unpasteurised soft cheese without a rind = NOT OK
- Soft cheese with a rind = NOT OK
- Soft blue-veined cheese = NOT OK

So pasteurisation is really only an issue if it's a rindless soft cheese that isn't a blue...

Hang on I might be right off the mark here but some of those are types of cheese, so just because waitrose sells a pasteurised version doesn't mean every version of that cheese is pasteurised?

Enjoy your holiday!

Yes NHS says Stilton fine as it is a hard cheese. Really best to use their guidelines.

The French aren't more relaxed. Use the same rules you would use in the UK for eating cheese.

Nice summary Aetae So if you had pasteurised camembert, for example, that's not ok? Good to know.

Guidelines and medical opinions differ quite a lot too, for exams here in Germany Parmesan is a definite no. I would only eat cheeses I have bought in supermarket from that list you provided and check the packaging, I wouldn't eat them in a restaurant in France, particularly as you are still in 1st trimester. Enjoy your holiday

A lot of those cheeses would be made in France with unpasteurised milk even though in Waitrose they buy in pasteurised ones. Chèvre is definitely out due to the rind.

In supermarket cheese often says 'lait cru' on it if made with unpasteurised milk but in a restaurant you would have no way of knowing.

To be on the safe side with steak, I ask for très bien cuit because even bien cuit can have a bit of pink (not red).

Delice and Epoisse de Bourgogne are definitely not 'safe' in terms of the guidelines. They are soft and the Epoisse has a washed rind.

Personally I didn't worry about cheese when I was pregnant, but that was my choice. If you are trying to stick to the guidelines then definitely don't eat those.

In France if you're going to be really careful then you're stuck with Comté, Emmental, Mimolette and Boursin (and equivalents). Chèvre frais (so the ash one might be okay) but the bog standard Soignon isn't. But a chèvre salad should be fine as the chèvre will be cooked on bread.

Pont l'eveque is absolutely not okay, likewise Delice and Epoisse de Bourgognes and Chaumes because of the rinds.

Being pregnant in France makes dinner parties awkward

I second the advice on having well cooked meat - toxoplasmosis is probably more common in France, they're certainly more aware of it. Likewise if you're buying in a supermarket or market make sure you wash all lettuces and veggies really well.

Also - I spoke to my doctor when I was first pregnant about steak. I can't abide a well done steak - BOAK - but love love love a medium rare steak.

She said if it is properly cooked on the outside then it's very unlikely to do any harm.

I've followed that throughout pregancy and haven't been ill. I even ate steak in France. MMmmmmmm.

Steak Haché however is a different matter - all minced meat should be brown throughout as it's been exposed to the air.

HTH.