Soft cheese

[MissBax]

I know we're advised not to eat soft, mould ripened cheese (unless cooked), but what do people do I'm France, Italy, Switzerland etc? I find it hard to believe they avoid those cheeses through pregnancy?

[Foggymist]

I ate all but blue cheese when pregnant on holiday in France, only reason I didn't eat that is because I don't like it so don't eat it anyway. If you mean soft cheese as in Philadelphia type stuff that's fine.

[MissBax]

DH has bought a lovely block of brie - I've avoided brie, camembert etc for the whole pregnancy (due in 4 weeks) and I just think now is it really that bad?

[Foggymist]

I'd eat it If it's pasteurised tuck in for definite, or bake/cook it, or just eat it anyway if so inclined.

[MusicToMyEars800]

I ate just about everything through my pregnancy, I did try and avoid runny egg yolk, but even ended up having an egg with a runny yolk, the cravings and my love for it were too strong, also ate some soft cheese, just not loads, I honestly don't think it would cause any harm. My mum always said all those rules about food never existed when she had all of her dcs and they all cam out fine as did all the other babies born years ago

[Luxembourgmama]

i ate all sorts of cheese and even sushi. the risks are pretty small.

[WaitingTillJuly17]

I'm eating ALL the cheese, I've never ever had any illness from cheese and I certainly haven't had listeria! Like you say, I'm pretty sure French women aren't all giving up on that gorgeous cheese! I've also had cured meats and a medium steak although I have cut out the caffeine as that's been proven to cause problems in high amounts and I basically live on tea at work.

Music are you based in the U.K.? The current guidance says that Lion stamped eggs are safe to eat with a soft yolk. In fact I had dippy eggs last weekend.... never knew I was such a rule breaker! 😂

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I didn't avoid anything during pregnancy, just made sure everything was in date and fresh.

[mrsbumblebees]

Oh I am missing all the delicious mouldy cheeses so much! I'm avoiding any soft cheeses which are mould ripened/unpasturised/blue (which are basically all the best and most delicious ones!) only because pregnancy has made me terribly anxious/paranoid, but I am sure the risk is TINY! I've never heard of anyone getting Listeria from cheese, (and it seems you can get it from all sorts of things they don't tell you to avoid, like bagged salad!). I wish there were better guidelines/research on these things, it seems like if in doubt, just tell the pregnant lady she can't have it which makes me a bit cross!

[WaitingTillJuly17]

MrsBumblebees surely telling the pregnant lady "no" to ANYTHING has got to be the worst advice ever?! 😂😂😂 #GiveThePregnantLadyWhateverSheWants #AngryPregnantLadiesEverywhere

[SarahJonesS]

Read the labels. I found quite a few soft nice cheeses in the supermarkets stated they were pasteurised so they should be fine

[Mum2oneds]

So u can eat if cooked... I. E deep fried brie.. As fancied that in a restaurant the other day and thought I couldn't eat it lol

[WaitingTillJuly17]

Sarah I think the issue isn't so much the pasteurisation but whether it is mouldy ripened or not which Camembert/Brie/all the best stuff is.

Mum2 yes you could have eaten it - I feel sad for you!

[WaitingTillJuly17]

*Mould 😒

[Foggymist]

Yes you can definitely eat them cooked as it would kill of the perceived nasties.

As I don't eat blue cheese and don't drink coffee or much tea literally the only thing I've restricted is alcohol and I stay within the fish/mercury guidelines, after that I just eat what I want. Also I think it's ridiculous that they warn us to stay away from so much yet say nothing about sugar intake, I see and hear of many mums eating tons of icecream, sweets constantly, etc and that's "fine", but wanting a medium steak or runny egg is forbidden!

[MissBax]

Looks like it'll be grilled brie on toast later then ladies! Can't wait ☺

[hometownunicorn]

Have a read of Expecting Better by Emily Oster. She gives all the evidence and risks associated with different foods, which I found helpful. I decided I'm ok with eggs and the odd coffee, but probably staying away from soft cheese at least until the second trimester.

[krakentoast]

I'm loving this thread, it's like a confession session.

I've had loads of blue cheese, cured meats and coffee. I looked up the Italian health service's pregnancy diet guidelines and they do recommend cutting down on coffee but not eliminating it completely, so that gave me confidence!

I haven't smoked at all and have only drunk very tiny amounts of alcohol on two special occasions so I reckon that gives me a free cheese pass. That's how science works, right?

[CharlieandLolaCat]

I thought it was all bollocks and then became v v I'll from epoisses (which was devastating as is literally my favourite cheese and it put me right off it for a v long time).
I would not want to be as ill as I was at least in the first trimester so proceed with caution ....

[2ducks2ducklings]

I had a Mr Whippy ice cream from the ice cream man today, my pregnant colleague said I shouldn't be having it (her first baby, my third). I then told her that I'd had a Tia Maria coffee the other day and she said she couldn't do that because if anything happened, she'd always blame herself. So I felt a bit shit. I've had no alcohol for the whole 25 weeks so far and I really fancied it. She made me feel so guilty now.
In the ten years between having my son and number 3, things have changed so much, what we could have, we now can't and vice Versa. It's mind blowing!

[mrsbumblebees]

WaitingTillJuly17 Haha exactly - don't make the pregnant lady angry!!!

Also a lot of people have mentioned coffee but the NHS clearly says you are allowed coffee/caffeine (in moderation) so although I've cut down, I've not given a second thought to the occasional cup, some days I couldn't get through without it!

[raviolidreaming]

even sushi

The NHS tell you that sushi is fine.

[JoyJoyJoyJoy]

As for as I understand it the reasoning 'I've never got ill from cheese before' doesn't really work though. Not only are listeria more dangerous during pregnancy, but you are also more susceptible than normally to getting them. Personally I wouldn't risk it, but each to their own.

[jessicajaine01]

It can potentialy give baby Listeria and cause them to poo. I gave birth at 31+2 as i passed the infection to baby, from what they thought was soft cheese. I don't actually like cheese but could be from lettuce not being washed properly etc. Baby however is doing great at the moment 1 week and 2 days old today

[ElizabethShaw]

Its worth looking at what the actual risk is and what the effect on the baby is. I'm comfortable with moderate amounts of caffeine/alcohol, soft eggs, rare steak etc, however the risk from listeria is small but devastating (stillbirth). Basically I'm happy to risk myself getting food poisoning but not the baby.

You're also 20 times more likely to get listeria when you're pregnant than not pregnant.

[moregingerbreadplease]

Oh GOD, does this mean I can eat a baked camembert for dinner?