Christmas foods

[Sharl2017]

Normally I do a massive cheese board with pate and pickle and dips etc but obviously I know not all of that will be suitable for me to eat now (I'll be 16 weeks pregnant)

Can I eat camembert? Warmed up in the oven so it's melted and runny on freshly baked bread? 😍
I would assume it's a no to stilton, brie, etc.
I know I can't eat pate... is there anything that I also definitely can't eat that I've completely overlooked or that I can eat but most people think you cant?

You can have any cheese if it's cooked through properly.

You can have camembert baked! I'll be having some too!! yum. You should avoid cured meats as well like parma ham and salami.

Oh really?? I hadn't even thought of the meats. I had a meat sandwich last week with alsorts of deli meat in it.. What are the risks of that? Obviously I'll avoid it again in future! Thank you

Stilton is pretty much the one blue cheese you can have - and it doesn't need to be cooked!

You don't have to avoid cured meat / salami, just freeze it for 4 days before eating.

I've been told all soft cheese, brie etc. and blue cheese needs to be cooked before eating. Think of it as your starter rather than your cheeseboard in place of dessert.

We can have stilton?? Please God I hope that's true!!!

Hard cheeses are fine whether pasteurised or not. I'll find the link

All hard cheeses are safe in pregnancy

You can eat hard cheeses, such as cheddar, parmesan and stilton, even if they're made with unpasteurised milk. Hard cheeses don't contain as much water as soft cheeses, so bacteria are less likely to grow in them. It's possible for hard cheese to contain listeria, but the risk is considered to be low

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

I'm gutted about my favourite Christmas foods being off the menu. No soft cheeses, pate or deli meats, and no alcohol... it's going to be the worst Christmas ever! I keep telling myself it's only one Christmas and next year will be back to normal. DH is planning "second Christmas" after I give birth, when we will eat all of the food and drink I wasn't allowed at Christmas! Until then I'm going to stuff myself with smoked salmon, which apparently is safe.

Hard cheeses are fine! 😀

You can definitely have Stilton. Enjoy.

Cook soft cheese and freeze cured deli meats for 4 days then you can eat them

Well being able to eat stilton is a game changer! Thank you everyone. Looks like it's baked camembert and stilton crackers.

I had read that deli/cured meats are a risk food because they're just dried out, not cooked meats. So there's a potential for bacteria to be present.
I think with ANY of these foods the risk is low, but in pregnancy with our suppressed immune systems if we were to catch anything like listeria on the off chance, our bodies wouldn't be able to fend it off.

I'll be sticking to baked Camembert this Christmas! And then stuff my face with everything we can't have after I give birth.