Christmas Cheeseboard

[chocolatesparkle]

Wondered if people have any yummy reccommendations of tasty cheeses that are safe to eat in pregnancy.

I'm not sure if its the mould or being unpasturised that is unsafe, for example, i noticed in the supermarket the other day that the cheddar that i was about to buy said that it was unpasturised, but I thought cheddar was safe?!

Similarly, I love taleggio, which I have found pasturised, but it is a soft cheese, so would this be OK?

I'm going to be 20 weeks pregnant with first baby at Christmas and already thinking about what i can eat! Hopefully other people are as obsessed by Christmas and eating as i am!

Brilliant question!

I too am a huge cheese fan and will be around 15 weeks at Christmas, I thought that it was just unpasturised cheese that you weren't allowed until my mother said soft cheese?

Last week at my friends house I was staring at the cheese board almost drooling over what I wasn't allowed to eat!

I think there are so many stories about what you should and shouldn't eat now it has just confused a lot of people - me included as to which guidelines you should follow!

Looking forward to someone knowing the answer!

Xx

You should not eat any unpasteurised dairy products at all.

as for the cheeses it is the mould ripened type (brie, camembert, pont l'eveque) that you are supposed to avoid. I'm not sure about taleggio, I don't think it is as soft.

I googled the French government advice recently. Their official advice is to avoid Brie type cheese and others with the mould crust and to remove the rind off all cheeses.
On plenty of French websites it says if you are going to eat them, ensure they are pasteurised and don't eat the rind.

NHS advice on cheese

We can eat stilton yayy

STILTON!!! I didn't think I could have that. I am nearly weeping with joy...[hgrin]

i was very happy when i read that NHS site the other day to find out i could eat stilton and hard blue cheese, mmmmmm!

erm, we can only have stilton if it's cooked...

oh no! i read it again!!
32 weeks of pain, right what time is the supermarket open til???

I asked specifically about stilton on Wed & MW said not allowed!

I think it's because its a blue cheese, most people (inc me) assume that ALL blue cheeses aren't allowed - but the NHS website says its OK!!

Thanks for all the advice. It appears from the NHS site that even uncooked stilton is allowed (I guess as long as it is pasturised?) Luckily I don't like blue cheese anyway, but I do miss Brie.

I'm going to offer to do the cheese board for the New Years party that we're going to too...that way i'll make sure that i don't miss out!

sorry girls... I'll have had my baby 3-4 weeks before Christmas and can have as much of any cheese as possible....whoop whoop (sorry again, but anything to make the next month go quickly)

If you click the link for hard cheeses from that NHS site, it lists hard unpasturised cheese you can eat. The main rule there is that it is cow's milk.

I miss Brie and Dolchellate (I cant spell I know) so much lol, I am however planning on a nice cheese selection at christmas so any ideas greatly recieved

I was so sooo happy when I found out that cooked goat's cheese was fine.

I am due 10 days after Xmas. If he hasn't popped out I am still eating whatever cheese is on the table.

I will be good and avoid the pate though :(

Cheese advice has changed over the past five years (I know because I read them through and through last time I was up the duff) and the Dept of Health haven't publicised it much which is why many GPs and midwives don't know.

Basically:

All hard unpasteurised cheeses are okay
(so the really good, unpasteurised, mature Cheddar or farmhouse Cheshire or unpasteurised, caved aged Guyere are all okay)

Stilton and all hard blue cheeses are okay

Cooked brie and other mold-ripened soft cheeses (inc Tallegio) are okay, but not uncooked

Soft, fresh Goat's cheese is okay but rinded versions are not
(so the Welsh ash coated, pepper coated and plain logs that you get in supermarkets are fine but the French rinded ones aren't)