Accidentally ate unpasteurised parmesan cheese!

[Beth2016xxx]

Only noticed the packet says made with unpasteurised cheese now!! I added it to some sauce that was off the heat and heated it in the microwave for two and a half mins so hopefully that would cook off any germ but now I’m worried! I have plenty Sicilian family members who ate it in Sicily throughout pregnancies but I can’t gelp but panic! Should it be okay?

I'm sure you'll be fine. The risk is minimal and heating it will have helped

I did this a few weeks back then read the nhs website:

Cheeses that are safe to eat in pregnancy
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.

I hope that puts you at ease but I had the exact same panic and glad I found that!

Hard cheeses are fine even if unpasteurised as they have a low moisture content. Conversely mould ripened and blue cheeses aren't advised even if pasteurised due to their higher moisture levels

That should say soft blue cheeses as hard blue cheeses are ok

When I hosted several French women at a work do when I was pregnant I asked what food restrictions did they follow when pregnant. They looked at me in horror and said none!

Just echoing PP that hard cheeses are fine no matter what milk they're made with.

It's fine. Jeez we really are trained to think small amounts of this stuff is gona make a difference. It's not!

Any cheese is okay if it’s been blasted for 2 and a half minutes in the microwave

As above, hard cheese is fine:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/foods-to-avoid-pregnant/

I've had spaghetti with parmesan today for dinner and I've read that parmesan is the safest cheese to eat unpastrized or not

It’s completely fine. NHS guidelines advise that any hard cheese is fine, even if unpasteurised.

Incidentally, French women are given almost exactly the same advice as us (and more stringent in some cases - they are advised to avoid ready-grated cheese and soy, too). Whether or not they follow it is of course another matter (and as toxoplasmosis screening is routine they will know if they can eat rare steak with impunity) but the guidance is virtually identical.