Listeria risk? Need reassuring, if poss...

[Biscuitbreaker]

Have just eaten some cheese my husband has bought. It's a hard, smoked cheddar type, so thought nothing of it. Until I realised he had bought from the supermarket deli counter with all the cold meats and salad on... Am now torturing myself with the risk of listeria contamination.

Am I being crazy pregnant lady? Or am I right to worry? Will I know if I get anything?
x

think you're being crazy pregnant lady. but don't worry because i have had very similar freak outs along the same lines!!!

in fact, i posted a similar thing on here a few weeks ago when i realised i'd been eating an unpasturised cheese which i thought was pasturised! everyone told me it was fine, risks v low, etc (and i had actually eaten unpasturised, which is not your case!). anyway, once it's scoffed, it's scoffed so no point worrying!! (easier said than done...)

Really don't panic!! I spent all Xmas eating Brie and goats cheese without knowing I was pregnant.
When I found out and asked my midwife about it, she said that listeria is rare and they don't advise against eating soft cheese in France. So while the risk is there, it is very very small.

I think if you had listeria it wouldn't take long before you'ld feel the effects
do don't worry
I read somewhere about how rare it is anyway, and none of the recentish cases in the UK have been from any kind of cheese

How many times have you caught listeria from this supermarket previously?

None?

Don't stress. It is sooooo unlikely.

hi- im 38 weeks preg with my second baby, during my first (totally healthy) pregnancy I craved parma ham, blue cheese etc, and tried to resist but occasionally fell and binged, to absolutely no ill effect. This time round I've pretty much run on both of the above, and the rest- again, Im bouncing along!
The listeria "risk" I read was based on 1 incident involving...... a supermarket-bought egg mayo sandwich.
So I'd say relax- the whole of italy and France can't be wrong- they think we are properly batty for thinking these sorts of foods are a problem :)

Hi,
Just wanted to add my tuppence worth. The risk really is tiiiiiiny so please don?t worry. You could probably eat brie and pate and runny eggs throughout your pregnancy and nothing would ever happen.

But I just wanted to reply on the posts regarding women in France/Italy. I was born and raised in Italy and have lived in France for long periods of time over the years, and I looked into what advice pregnant women are given there, just out of curiosity. It seems in fact they are pretty much given the same advice as we are ? avoid certain blue veined/soft skinned cheeses, avoid things like salami/parma ham/cured deli meats and sausages, pate, no raw/under cooked meat and eggs, wash your fruit and veg?etc.

Anyway, am sure its the same as it is here in that different sources/doctors give different advice, and different women do and don't do different things!

btw, parma ham is now ok according to the nhs website: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx#close (towards the bottom)

The NHS website says hard cheeses like Cheddar are safe even if unpasteurised. This is because there is not enough moisture in the cheese for the listeria bacteria to live.

Conversely, soft cheeses/mould ripened cheeses like Brie are not "safe" even if made with pasteurised milk, because they could have grown listeria since they were made. (Even then, though, there is only a risk of listeria, it's not like it's definitely going to cause harm).

Hard cheeses are fine.

Agree with flipflop - it's a complete myth that French women aren't told to avoid Brie - they are!

I live in Spain and was told to avoid raw meat (because I tested negative to toxoplasmosis antibodies) no smoking or alcohol. That's it.

I've continued to eat Brie, goats cheese and rare-ish steak. My dr reccomended pâté for iron. Different countries do have different guidelines, the US are so ott!

Im still going to eat what I like :)

I had a whole packet of parma ham yesterday

you CAN eat runny eggs if they have the lion stamp on em

re listeria, I'm taking more care with all food sources, so no grotty pre packed sandwiches or tired looking deli salads, as I personally believe that they are the bigger risk (weren't the last 2 cases salad and a pre made sambo?), but I've had goats cheese with rind, I don't tend to eat bree etc

I avoid mixed processed meats and pate incase there's bits of liver (vit A) in there

the main thing I'm watching is caffine, so careful with chocolate etc