Query about 'safe' pregnancy cheeses....

[M2T]

Rrrrrright... I'm hate all this hysteria about avoiding certain foods in pregnancy, but still find myself doing it!!!

So, can someone please tell me if it is okay for me to eat:

Fresh Mozzarella and
Ricotta

I love cheese and I love fresh mozzarella cooked or just sliced on a sandwich with salad.... tell me this is allowed!??

Does anyone know if the Stilton with cranberries or apricot that they sell in Sainos and tescos is OK? Its just that they don't appear to have the blue mouldy viens that regular Stilton has - so does that mean it is safe?

Also is Gorgonzola OK or not ?

Hi thought I would add to this discussion as I am a microbiologist working for one of the major supermarkets and it's my job to make sure these cheeses are as safe as can be. All hard cheese is fine. Experts now say there is a risk from all soft cheese not just unpasteurised hence the new warning labels. Anything that is cooked is also fine, as Listeria will be killed by pasteurisation. Mozzarella is OK on pizza. Ricotta is also OK as it is heat treated to very high temps during manufacture. As for me, I am continuing to eat all cheese soft and hard, thats my choice, from experience you are more likely to get Listeria from cooked meat. Hope that clears a little bit of it up I'm confused and I'm supposed to be an expert!

What do you mean by soft cheeses here sweetkitty? Do you mean mould-ripened, or are you referring to stuff like Philadelphia and cottage cheese, which has always been considered safe - even by the Food Standard's Agency.

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A fellow pg friend pulled me up the other day for eating that squeezy spready cheese (can't remember name but its in a bit yellow tube and I like the one with chives - think they do ham & pineapple). I thought this was okay and have been chomping through it and runny eggs I must admit as at times they are all I fancy. Am I not supposed to eat that?

The food standards agency reccommend the following:
In order to avoid the risk of listeriosis pregnant women are advised to avoid eating ripened soft cheeses of the Brie, Camembert and blue-veined types, whether pasteurised or unpasteurised.
This is because ripened soft cheeses are less acidic and contain more moisture than hard cheeses and are therefore more inclined to allow growth of undesirable bacteria such as Listeria, which may harm your unborn child.

You can enjoy hard cheeses such as Cheddar and Cheshire. Cottage cheese, processed cheese and cheese spreads can all be safely eaten during pregnancy.

Lazy eye - Primula cheeeeeeese.... mmmmmmmmmm!!

I have had the odd runny yolk too. Should we be allowed to have children?

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lol Secur!

Feck! Salami - is that bad? Is that the same as the stuff on top of a Pepparoni Pizza? We are talking all my diet staples here.........now i just need you tell me I shouldn't be having peanut butter on me toast in the morning......

lol Lazyeye.... that's Pepperoni!!
And its cooked when you cook the pizza. No I think its just cold salami.

Dunno Dino - I'm just assuming that's what Secur meant. Could there be a raw meat element to Salami?

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This is a very British thing, isn't it? I spent both of my pregnancies in the wilds of Eastern Europe, where you couldn't even get pasteurised milk (it came straight from the cow and we had to boil it). I lived in blissful ignorance till I went to UK and saw a midwife who told me I shouldn't have been eating soft cheese, salami, ice cream etc etc. When I told her where I had been living, she snatched the leaflet on healthy eating out of my hand and said "Don't read it! It will only panic you!" Also ate nice soft eggs from friendly chickens who lived down the road. And had two healthy children. Me, not the chickens!

I must admit I'm a lot more relaxed with this pg (3rd) than the other 2, also because strangely I have been craving eggs, runny or otherwise. As I've said I've eaten eggs,peanut butter (very naughty I know) but none of us have an allergy and I did with no2, drunk a bit. Serve me right if its born with 5 chins and a terrible fear of postage stamps...........I just think everything in moderation

ROFL@ 5 chins and fear of postage stamps! How surreal.

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Yeah dinosaur - didn't mean to belittle the risks. I know I'm taking a bit of a risk with the stuff I eat.....but to be honest I felt so rough at the beginning I had to eat anything I vaugley could face.

You will have a perfect baby this time (I'm sure youre other 2 are too).....