Have just found out that Brie and tinned Pate is safe to eat so as it has been pasturised.

[coribells]

That means that the Brie we brought from Waitrose is safe and the tin of Foie Gras Dh was saving for New Years eve is also safe. here is the link. I am planning on gobbing the lot unless anyone can tell me that this information is wrong.

I thought pate was also a bit dodgy due to the vitamin A in livers?

Yes all liver has a high vitamin a content. But I think you have to eat a lot of it. Will try and find out what a 'lot' actually is.

Am not planning on eating any blue cheese because of the mould. Can cut off the white rind off my Brie.

Kayzed is right. I wouldn't have uncooked Brie in pg even if pasteurised. If you cut off the mould and cooked it (eg on toast) until bubbling, though, it should be OK.
this is my favourite link on eating in pg.

Although the Brie has been pasteurised it is not safe from post pasteurisation contamination with Listeria, if Listeria were to contaminate the cheese it would grow very quickly to harmful levels. Cutting of the mould will not make the cheese any safer sorry. This is the reason that the government now state that pregnant women should avoid all soft cheeses. The link is from the US different countries have different guidelines.

To be honest the standards in factories are so high to prevent Listeria contamination that the risk is minimal but still there hence the warning.

Yes I think the Pate is the high levels of vitamin A but don't know much about it really, am only a food microbiologist!

Sorry, the government do not advise pregnant women to avoid ALL soft cheeses, except of course brie and mould ripened cheeses. Boursin, philadelphia, cottage cheese is perfectly safe, at least it was the last time I checked online several weeks ago. look here

If it is liver pate then it may have higher than acceptable levels of vit. A for a preg woman.

I ate everything in pregnancy - my midwife advised me of the risks (miniscule) and said that I was now able to make an informed choice. Wonderful woman - stilton all the way! (I did lay off the pate as a general rule but that was because I had heards that excessive vit A can lead to congenital heart disease, and as that runs in my partners family I thought it best if I didn't take the risk and end up blaming the pate!

It's the vit. A levels in pate that make it a good thing to avoid in pregnancy. Large amounts can cause feotal abnormalities.

There are so many other things to eat though, why the need to have pate and mouldy cheeses

yea sorry I was going a bit mad yesterday the government hasn't adopted the new guidelines yet but I know one supermarket has started adding the "Not recommended for pregnant women" label to all soft cheeses.

I eat everything I fancy when pregnant too but that's me and I think I can make an informed choice (don't eat pate as veggie though).

It's a minefield what's safe to eat in pregnancy and differs from country to country which makes it worse!

I am with sweetkitty - ate pretty much anything in pregnancy except raw meat. Loved french smelly cheese despite the listeria risk, also blue cheese. I figured that I had been eating it a lot before pg and so I would probably have been infected before. But I did avoid it for the first trimester. Wonder whether they have similar govt advisory in France.

In UK, there is a safe limit for drink in pg - I figure the drink culture here would not brook a total ban. In some countries, not even one drop is advised. V. confusing.

Oooh, I noticed a pregnant lady risk warning on my pate the other day (clearly not having bought it for me ).

Felt like I was buying tabbaco!!!

Oh, and sat and eat a pile of camembert on boxing day based on the theory that I'm 31 weeks now, and I have no will power!!! tasted soooooooooo good.

So the information is not wrong, but countries interpret the same data differently?

Listeria is potentially in a lot of products.
When I 'booked in' the midwife suggested that there was a theoretical risk of jackets potatoes and prepared salads containing listeria as well.

I think i now feel comfortable eating Brie, as it has been pasturised. The pate, well it will be the only liver product I eat this pregnancy, and it is FOIE GRAS after all.