to laugh at my friends helpful comments...

[peanutMD]

I found out I wad pregnant a few Wells ago and I'm just starting to tell some of my choose friends and atleast 3 people (1 of whom has 5 children) have tools he that the biggest thing they have missed in pregnancy is Philadelphia, when I asked why I was told because you're not allowed soft cheeses or you can poison the baby!

Now obviously I didn't just laugh in their face but I did point out that it wasn't cheese spread they meant it was a minimal risk from eating cheeses such as brie but again I was tools no I'm sure I was tools not to eat soft cheese to which I did have to stifle a giggle.

:o

at fizzy breast milk

OP,
Your friend is right. Philadelphia cream cheese is a type of soft cheese & should be avoided in pregnancy due to the risk of Listeria monocytogenes, which causes Listeria food poisoning. Listeria is nasty because is can cause miscarriage.
This advice is regardless of whether the cheese has been made from unpasteurised milk. There have been outbreaks of Listeria in pasteurised milk products.
The reason why soft cheese & Philadelphia are risky is because of the high moisture content.

Anything (pasteurised or not) from the chiller cabinet (so that includeds Philedelphia) is a listeria risk.

Which isn't to say you should never eat it, but I do think YABU to laugh.

People who would have a fit over a pregnant woman having a glass of wine are very flippant about the listeriosis. It is very rare, but the consequences are almost always devastating. Basically a single dose of listeria could kill your baby; a glass of wine here and there will not.

Good food hygiene is the best defence.

Cripes I was slow there - xpost with kras!

krasnayaploshad According to the NHS, you're wrong.

here

Good post Jenai

"IIRC none if the 'banned foods' are actually bad for you or the baby its stuff that has teeny, tiny risk of food poisoning that you wouldn't normally even think about."

Not true. Pregnant women: Pregnant women typically experience only a mild, flu-like illness. However, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.

The French are more relaxed about soft cheeses etc, but the rates of congenital listeriosis are much higher in France.

Lots of cross-posting saying the same.

You can eat rare steak when pregnant according to the purple NHS pregnancy book, it just has to be sealed on each side first. So just grill each side quickly then you can eat it!

"Different but a midwife told me that too many ultrasound scans could damage the baby's hearing."

This used to be thought was the case but studies have shown no association.

My GP tells me that all things in moderation are okay - eg, eating a small bit of fresh mayo on a sandwich one day isn't going to kill you or the baby. Just don't be eating these 'banned' things for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 9 months!

A friend of mine once told me off for eating cashew nuts during my first pregnancy as she thought all nuts were to be avoided. Think she was going from the old advice to avoid peanuts. I continued to eat cashews and DS is no worse off for it

TheSkiingGardener The NHS isn't the sole authority on this & certainly the food industry includes Philadelphia cream cheese as a higher risk product due to its moisture content.
You have actually misread your NHS link. It also states that soft cheeses should be avoided, although the info is ambiguous. Given I work in the food industry & the guidelines we work with, I find it is safer to avoid all soft cheeses during pregnancy & this includes Philly. :)

The other thing people seem to forget is that you are far more likely to contract food poisoning when you're pregnant.

I thought that liver was bad for the baby because it contains too much vit A and shark/swordfish etc because they contain too much mercury.

Apart from that its mimimal food poisoning risk.

Liver pate should be avoided both because of the Vit A content and the listeria risk. Listeria is found in other forms of pate too though (including vegetable).

And yes, big predatory fish at the top of the foodchain, such as shark, should be avoided because of the mercury content.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/are-hard-cheeses-safe-to-eat-during-pregnancy.aspx - this page says cream cheeses are fine to eat and that the soft cheeses to avoid eating are mould-ripened soft cheeses and soft blue-veined cheeses as they can contain higher levels of listeria.

Examples of these cheeses include:

brie and blue brie
camembert
chèvre (a type of goats? cheese)
Danish blue
gorgonzola
roquefort

From the link:

Other types of cheese are also safe to eat during pregnancy, but make sure they?re made from pasteurised milk. These include:

cottage cheese
mozzarella
feta
cream cheese
paneer
ricotta
halloumi
some types of goats? cheese
processed cheese, such as cheese spreads

from that wikipedia link:

Another aspect of prevention is advising high-risk groups such as pregnant women and immunocompromised patients to avoid unpasteurized pâtés and foods such as soft cheeses like feta, Brie, Camembert cheese, and bleu. Cream cheeses, yogurt, and cottage cheese are considered safe. In the United Kingdom, advice along these lines from the Chief Medical Officer posted in maternity clinics led to a sharp decline in cases of listeriosis in pregnancy in the late 1980s.[8]

I'm pregnant and happily eating philadelphia. I probably wouldn't if it had been sitting out in the warm for ages first, but I'd apply that to all food to be honest.

There was a thread on here yesterday about pre-cooked cold chicken being a listeria risk. Apparently it is.... but I'm still eating it. I have stopped buying chicken sandwiches though, as sandwich shop hygiene probably isn't all it should be.

YABU to call Philadelphia cheese

Apart from that as others have said it is only unpasturised cheeses which means even some blue cheese is ok. Just check the label.

My doctor told me to eat fish and chips when pregnant :) Well, she said where normally you might think fried things are less healthy, they are usually cooked fresh for you, whereas, say, pasta may be reheated and pose a greater risk of food posioning.

So I ate lots of chips

I ate sushi once a week when pregnant. EVERY time someone asked me if I should be eating that. My view was that if raw fish was not fresh, I could tell long before it got into my mouth.

It ISN'T only only unpasteurised cheese!

Marys, the issue with sushi was to do with parasitic worms; any sashimi served in this country has (iirc) have had to have been frozen so that shouldn't be an issue. However the usual warnings regarding chilled foods (ready meals, smoked salmon, pate, soft cheeses, bagged salads...) still apply.

What Jenai said. It is not only unpasteurised cheese. Cheese with a mould rind (like camembert, brie, chevre) is still unsafe even if made with pasteurised milk. This is because the listeria can grow in it after the cheese is made (even if it's made with unpasteurised milk), during the ripening process.

On the other hand hard cheeses (like Cheddar) are fine even if made with unpasteurised milk, since they are too dry for the listeria bacteria to live in.

Jenai I have been told on this site that sushi/sashimi fish has to be frozen before serving by UK law. However I looked on Itsu website and they specifically say their fish has NOT been frozen. So that appears to be a myth. Sushi is not safe unless you check with the restaurant that their fish has been frozen first.

Oh crap, I am 18 weeks pregnant and I have been eating Philladelphia like it is going out of fashion. I dont normally eat it as I not a big cheese lover but just fancied some!