Xmas cheeseboard minefield

[mellmumma]

So like every year I have been put in charge of the cheeseboard for xmas day.... this is normally a task I relish in but this year I am 10 weeks pregnant so it is a little bit like torture!

I've got a fair idea of which cheeses I can and can't touch from my selection, but just thought I would throw it out there in case I have missed something and can or cannot go near certain ones I hadn't realised. I'm not sure on a few,

So which cheeses would you say we can eat out of these???

(apologies for cheese torture...)

French brie
Smoked Applewood
Boursin Garlic & Herb
White Stilton & Apricot
Wensleydale with Double Chocolate Brownie Fudge
Wensleydale with Sticky Toffee
Wensleydale with Fug & Salted Caramel
St Agur Blue Cheese
Port (just kidding) ..... I wish!

Thanks in advance!

That should read FIG & salted caramel!

I think you could eat the Wensleydale's, the Boursin and the smoked

You can have any hard cheese and any pasteurised cheese I believe?

They want you to avoid the cheeses that have mould and unpasteurised cheeses.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/are-hard-cheeses-safe-to-eat-during-pregnancy.aspx

So I would avoid the Brie and blue cheeses as the others should be fine.

Even reading that list is torture!

Get some Camembert and cook it then you can eat that.

My mum has a massive Brie which I think I will have some of tomorrow as avoiding it will be horrible

All of them are fine except the St Agur and Brie (unless either are cooked, in which case they are fine).

I'd eat all of it.

But then I developed my own version of the food advice after reading up a lot on listeria...

You can eat Stilton and I'm sure some Brie is pasturised.

Avoid the Brie and the St Agur blue (as per the nhs list). The rest is fine!

We also have the wensleydale and double choc brownie fudge!

What about something like a flavoured Red Leicester or Double Gloucester instead of the Wenslydale overload?

No brie or St Agur. The rest are fine. You can eat all hard cheese, even if it is unpasteurized but no mould ripened cheese, such as brie, Camembert, port salut, regardless of whether it is pasteurized or not, unless they are cooked.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx#close

Stilton is fine. Brie you need to check the packaging as some is pasteurised and some is not. I am pregnant too and have done extensive cheese research!

Although for this pregnancy (2nd) I've eaten some cheeses you probably shouldn't because when you get down into the stats of the likelihood of you having not had listeria before (you probably have) and the likelihood of the cheese you have bought giving you an issue (extremely unlikely if bought from a supermarket) then the risk is pretty minuscule. Although admittedly I have relaxed later in pregnancy rather than first trimester!

If I were you I'd keep some St Agur back to stuff into a chicken breast and cook so you can have that too. Yum!

I have easily given up wine and reduced coffee. I have effortlessly forgone highlighting my hair in the first trimester even though the advice on that is not convicincing.

It is the lovely, raw milk, soft cheeses in the refrigerator that are breaking my heart this Christmas. I am compensating with chocolate.

I'd eat all of it. The risks from cheese are tiny. I will forego wine tomorrow but cheese as well? Sod that

I'm so glad I find smelly cheeses revolting, one less thing to feel deprived of!

Where do I get my hands on some of this amazing sounding wensleydale? All 3 sound awesome!

Personally I would eat all of it. The camembert I got from tesco is actually pasteurised, so not sure if that makes it ok. Worth double checking the labels.

Gah!! Thanks to reading this thread I just re-checked the NHS advice - am staying with the French outlaws for Christmas and they insist I can't eat unpasteurised HARD cheese but can eat Camembert because it's pasteurised. Have been eating a bit for the past 2 days (forgoing delicious Comte) and now see that the NHS says no mould-ripened cheese, regardless of how it's made!

Really glad you posted this. I've just eaten some really delicious Stilton - good to now know it's on the OK list. I wasn't compleyely sure but went ahead on the grounds it would be fine, it's a hard cheese and risks are minimal. Good to have that confirmed.

We've got half a cheese in the fridge so I'll be enjoying that over Christmas without holding back. Thank you all.

Oh, and I am also into third trimester. I would probably have been more cautious in the first few months.

I would eat all of it, without question.

I'd eat all of it too. In fact I ate a very gooey brie, cambozola and a lovely stilton today. The risks are very very small, and a level I'm comfortable with.
My biggest worry is the judgement over the cheese board tomorrow from DH's family. We are planning on announcing tomorrow, I've asked DH if we can tell them after the cheese course!

Wensleydale with sticky toffee is my favourite

I'm 16 weeks and I'd eat all. Only soft cheeses with a mould rind like Brie are not advised (NOT not allowed!!) but only because listeria is harmful to the baby IF you get it. You have no higher chance of getting it as a pregnant lady.