Unpasteurised cheese mistake

[Victoria72]

Was just in Waitrose and they had a plate of 'tasters' - was a square of cheddar cheese - thumb nail size - with tomato chutney on top. Was very yummy but once swallowed I realised the cheese was unpasteurised. Should I be concerned? (I am 33+5.)

no you will be absolutely fine. good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

Victoria thats a very small amount

There's nothing you can do about it now, try not to worry

HI Victoria

You should be OK - isn't cheddar usually pasteurised? The ones you want to be more careful of are the 'runny' cheeses like Brie & Camembert and blue cheeses.

One small piece should be fine

Had same question when I was pregnant (about 20 weeks) as my mum gave me a mature cheddar sandwich then noticed on pack it was unpasteurised cheese. I panicked and phoned hospital - they said that it's extremely rare to get anything and usually just from soft unpasteurised cheese as hard cheeses are matured for so long that they no longer contain bacteria.

Don't worry!! My friend in France thinks this recommendation we have is ludicrous, no mention of it over there.

Cheddar is usually pasturised though

No, I don't think so. The risk is very low, but if in doubt speak to your gp/midwife. Some countries don't even tell their pg women not to eat unpasteurised cheese.

I at a taste of deep fried camembert when pg and got in a panic - ds was absolutely fine when he was born.

And btw, I have heard that you would know it if you had listeria - you would be ill with vomiting etc. So please don't panic!

Unpasteurised cheddar cheese will be completely fine do not worry about it.

Could baffle you with the science (and put you to sleep in the process) but cheddar cheese is matured for at least a year and any nasty bugs in the cheese are killed off.

In all my pregnancies I have eaten Parmesan on a regular basis and it's a smiliar process.

Read this, I thought that it was quite interesting when I read it a few weeks back,

here

In particular this bit on listeria:

"Here are some other things that are wantonly untrue: pasteurisation, in fact, has nothing to do with a cheese's ability to harbour the listeria bacteria. The bacteria that characterise different cheeses are introduced after the pasteurisation process anyway. Listeria flourishes in moist environments, so parmesan is safe where camembert isn't, but even rinded and soft cheeses are safe once they have been cooked. But food hygiene is a much more important factor than moisture - raw fish does not come out of the sea carrying listeria, but contracts the bacteria from contact with dirty hands. Of the past two outbreaks of listeria in Britain, one was from butter and the other from lettuce (there have been other instances of product recalls, but no human contamination).

In fact the three worst recorded cases of list-eria since 1992 have all been in France, and were all from pork tongue in jelly, which nobody in their right mind would ever eat. Of the past 10 listeriosis outbreaks in America, only two were from cheese, and one of those was a Mexican homemade cheese. The notion that there are pregnant people out there whipping themselves into a frenzy of guilt because they have eaten some gorgonzola is just infuriating."

Thank you one and all. I have actually read that article before and rejoiced very loudly in the privacy of my own home. Phew - re: the cheese, I didn't think there was much to worry about but these days it seems if pregnant mothers breathe they're doing the wrong bloody thing!

I know what you mean Victoria we are made to feel guilty about everything.

I have actually inoculated many different types of cheese with loads of Listeria and tested it and proven it does die out so I think I can definitely say your are OK

Do not worry about it.
To make you feel loads better read my thread I started recently I ate some brie (which had 'pasteurised' on the packet.. I've gotton over it

Before I knew I was PG went out for sushi twice got well and truly rat asses and ate a whole pack of camberzola and blue stilton - was beating myself up with guilt but really not much can be done once eaten and mothers have so much that we are made to feel guilty for