Ricotta Cheese during pregnancy

[katmam]

Can anyone tell me if it is safe to eat ricotta cheese during pregnancy? I don't mean eating it "raw", more like, is it OK to have in cooked pasta, sauces (or most importantly Asda's Spinach & Ricotta slices!)?

katman, I'm pretty sure it's made from pasteurised milk. I rang sainsbury's helpline during last pregnancy & they said anything unpasterurised would be labelled as that, anything else would be safe.

Surely if a cheese has been well cooked and is served piping hot then it doesn't matter whether or not it was pasteurised? That's been my philosophy for all 'forbidden' foods in this pregnancy. Except for shellfish - I don't know whether they are banned or not, but I figure that as they can have nasty toxins in them which wouldn't be removed by cooking, then I'd better avoid them.

not sure wmf, I know that some moulds (& therefore cheeses?) are pretty hardy & withstand high temperatures.

wmf - that's what I thought too. My sister was the one who brought it up, and said exactly the same as you - figure she must know a bit about what she's talking about as she studied some kind of biology at uni ...!

Probably going against all the advice - but I ate blue cheese, soft cheese, pate and shellfish while pregnant - both times - both DD and DS fine!!

But why would Ricotta be a problem? As someone has already said,it would be very unlikely to be made from unpastuerised milk and would be clearly labelled if it was. It is only soft RIPENED cheese (i.e. brie, camembert etc) which can be a problem not ricotta, mascarpone, cream cheese etc which don't ripen.

Thanks for all your replies, and for clearing things up for me. (I have in the past asked my midwife and my doctor if it is OK to eat such cheeses as mascarpone and ricotta, and both said no, that I should stay away from soft cheeses.)

I am now going to Asda's to stock up on their spinach and ricotta slices ... roll on teatime!

I got quite confused during pregnancy as to which cheeses I could eat as they AREN'T clearly labelled as unpasturised. I found Sainsbury's helpline really good at explained exactly why you could eat some cheeses and not others. I'm not sure if I can remember now exactly what she said but I had been avoiding parmesan, which I love, as it's made with unpasturised milk but the woman on the helpline explained that it could be eaten as there's no risk of listeria with parmesan, whereas I think the mould they use in blue cheese is actually a strain of listeria - I think that's correct anyway! BUT the key thing is that listeria grows at fridge temperatures and can't withstand any heat at all so ANY cheese is ok if it's heated in a sauce, which is great news if you're keen on four cheese sauces etc. Presume even deep fried brie would be ok. Would definitely recommend the Sainsbury's helpline though if you're unsure as they will explain the exact reasoning behind what you can and can't eat and I found that the midwives and doctors really didn't know.

More cheesey questions - I thought camembert was not allowed because it was unpasturised, but the brand I buy states it's made with pasturised milk. Anyone know if it's ok? Also, does anyone know where I can get a comprehensive list of foods in general that need to be avoided - I was vegan during my 1st pregnancy, so it never really applied to me so I never learnt it. I'm not a true carnivore with omniverous tendancies, so I suppose I'd better find out. I'm not in the uk, so don't send me down the library please! Thanks

btw Katmam, I was told that ricotta is perfectly fine.

As Croppy and others have said, it's only mould-ripened soft cheeses that are a problem - those with a rind, like camembert, brie and goat's cheese (even if made with pasteurised milk) as the ripening process encourages the growth of listeria. Cream cheeses are fine, as are cheese spreads and all hard cheeses except blue veined ones, like Stilton. However, any cheese at all can be used in cooking, a long as it is cooked until piping hot. Listeria cannot survive cooking or, indeed, freezing, so icecream that is frozen and eaten frozen solid is fine too. Ready to eat meats - eg salami and deli ham should be avoided, as should meat pate and raw or soft boiled eggs -eg in mayo, though bottled mayo, eg Hellmans, is completely safe. Packet salads should be washed. Shellfish are dodgy, as is seafood. Liver should be avoided because it is very high in Vitamin A, which can cause birth defects in very, very rare cases (however, I think you'd have to eat a hell of a lot of liver for it to be a problem!). Undercooked meat should also be avoided, particularly chicken. However, listeria is a rare infection, with fewer than 200 cases a year in the UK, so even if you take the odd risk by accident or otherwise, the chances of getting infected are really small. Also, in France women aren't given this advice at all. Probably be a revolution if they were!

I have just got back from holiday in Italy and when we were there I had a great big long conversation with an Italian mother (and paed nurse) about food.
Basically, she was appalled at all the things we are told to avoid, and she ate gorgonzola throughout her pregnancy as she craved it and drank wine every day, and that is the norm there.
Maybe I should move!

thanks melinda - i didn't know about salami & stuff.