pasteurised soft cheese?

[bubblegumgirl]

My GP said I could eat pasteurised soft cheese (like that yummy smelly french stuff) so I bought a load last night but DH is a bit worried about my eating it. Thoughts on pasteurised camembert/brie etc please?

Its fine. Why wouldn't it be?

It's a no no. Rinded cheese is a potential haven for listeria, which can be very serious in pregnancy. Soft cheese is different - like Philadelphia or feta.

Fine if it's cooked though, so baked Brie is okay.

no you are supposed to avoid them even if pasteurised due to listeria risk. You could cook them to make them safer. Maybe your mw meant soft cheeses like philadephia rather than mould ripened or cheeses with a rind.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/why-cant-I-eat-soft-cheeses-during-pregnancy.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=216

Even if the milk is pasteurised it's the mould wash which gives it the rind that makes it unsafe. Ditto blue cheese - pasteurised milk which is then deliberately exposed to bacteria.

I am finding the whole thing very confusing. My midwife also told me it's ok to eat all pasteurised cheeses. Also that it's ok to eat cooked cheeses. So does that mean it's ok to cook a Camembert then cool it then have it on crackers??

Blue cheese is ok according to the nhs website:
'Hard blue cheeses such as stilton are safe to eat without cooking.'

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2683.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=216

But not soft blue which most blues are though. So no Roquefort etc. but again okay if cooked. I forget about Stilton. None here! But plenty of Camembert and similar.

I don't know what would happen if you cooked a Cambert through and left it to cool. Never tried.... The bacteria should be well and truly dead once it's melted all the way through but I'm not sure how it would taste once resolidified.

There's a distinction between soft cheese and mould ripened cheese that MWs and doctors really should be making clear...

Shit. I did have some. So you think I should get myself checked out? I can't seem to find clear guidance. I understand that mould-ripened cheeses are not ok, but I thought the issue was that they wouldn't be pasteurised. So how is it that stilton is safe despite all the bacteria?

I'm super confused (and still craving the cheese).

OK, have found a link which makes it clear that mould-ripened cheeses, even if pasteurised, are not to be eaten

www.babycentre.co.uk/x3175/is-it-safe-to-eat-cheese-during-pregnancy

So am calling GP.

God what a minefield. I've been so confused by it all that i've limited myself to cheddar and philadephia.

i'd murder a massive hunk of smelly brie on salty crackers- washed down with a cheeky bottle of rioja!

Watch for flu like symptoms, cramps or reduced movement. Don't panic, the likelihood is quite small but if you do develop it then baby will need to be delivered quickly.

Stilton is a hard blue rather than a soft blue. Hard cheeses, as a rule, are fine.

You can get listeria from bagged salad, not just some cheese. You going to stop eating that? I wouldn't freak out about it. Just eat a bit of the cheese.

You can wash the salad though, just like you can cook the cheese. And the likelihood of listeria from salad is significantly less than cheese...

You should also avoid various kinds of cold meats because if the listeria risk. It amazes me how many people don't know the reasons for avoiding food and how serious the potential consequences can be. It's in a par with how many people make up formula incorrectly because they genuinely haven't understood why the guidelines are there.

Don't worry about the cheese you've already eaten. The chance that you'll contract listeriosis from one little bit of cheese are vanishingly small.

Even if you stuffed your face with Brie for the whole nine months you'd probably still be unlikely to have problems.

But like much else in pregnancy it's about reducing avoidable risk.

Don't worry about the cheese you've already eaten. The chance that you'll contract listeriosis from one little bit of cheese are vanishingly small.

Even if you stuffed your face with Brie for the whole nine months you'd probably still be unlikely to have problems.

But like much else in pregnancy it's about reducing avoidable risk.

I highly recommend Emily osters excellent book which debunks pregnancy food myths and gors beyond badly researched NHS recommendations. The NHS do look into the science or give women an accurate assessment of risk. I told my midwife last week that I would dippy eggs that were from vaccinated hens as there was no risk as she looked at me as if I was satan.

Should say do not look, not do

I'm sure NHS do look at the science!! But they err on the side of caution and try to make advice easy to understand.

On runny eggs, I had heard anecdotally that NHS were considering reviewing the guidance but they need lots of evidence before they do so.

They err on the side of patronising women with out of date recommendations without backing them up with access to peer reviewed evidence based on substantial samples. If men got pregnant more effort would be made!