Soft cheese (I know it’s been done to death)

[CactusPat]

What is the current consensus on soft cheese? I feel like everything I read says something different I’ve read a few threads but they all seem to disagree!

I thought anything pasteurized was ok (except mould ripened) but then I’ve also read that it’s best to just stay away from soft cheese regardless due to listeria risk.

Can my Christmas cheeseboard of Castello and Roule be saved?! Or am I best sticking to cheddar and manchego...?

Well, my friend's mum had 4 children. With the first one, she was told no soft cheese. With the middle 2, she was told yes soft cheese. With the 4th, it was no again. The middle kids are both gay and the youngest and oldest and both straight. She says it was the soft cheese that did it! (Very lighthearted and jokingly; there's nothing homophobic about her at all).

I know you're looking for actual advice on cheese! Just thought I'd share that wee story from her!

This is something I too wondered over a lot during my pregnancies. Then last year a new friend shared with me that she lost her first child during pregnancy due to eating the wrong kind of cheese, it had whichever bacteria is harmful during pregnancy, I forget now what it’s called. It was so incredibly sad to hear and I was so shocked that indeed just one small piece of the wrong kind of cheese could have such devastating affects. I had never met anyone else this had ever happened to. I felt I should share this when seeing your thread and don’t mean to scare anyone just to say that caution really is needed. X

Stick to the NHS guidelines. There's a lot of stuff on the Internet, some of it advice from other countries. The NHS covers cheeses thoroughly on its website.

I’ve been told that cooked piping hot tiled soft cheese eg Camembert or Brie is fine. I have eaten both cooked in my pregnancy

Yeah, either cooked, or check if it's pastuerised. Most supermarket soft cheese is pastuerised so is fine to eat.

Thanks everyone - it’s a minefield sometimes!

I love brie and miss it. I have found 'Port Salut' has been a welcome substitute. It is pasteurised and soft but not spreadable unfortunately.

NHS advice is not to eat any mould-ripened soft cheese whether pasteurised or not, unless cooked until bubbling. It is as simple as that.

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

All hard cheeses, including unpasteurised ones and blues such as Stilton, are considered fine. For some reason, a lot of otherwise intelligent women are incapable of grasping this and therefore continue to spread misinformation, such as the misconception that pasteurised Brie and Camembert are NHS approved.