Cheese!!!Please help!

[Jaynee]

Hi everyone. I'm 9 weeks and had been happily tucking into lots of philadelphia cheese when my midwife told me today that I should have it as its a soft cheese. I remember eating it in my 1st pregnancy and I thought it was ok as not mould ripened. Now I'm confused. What about parmesan?? Had loads of that the other night??? Thanks for any advice

Philadelphia is fine, as is parmesan. Enjoy!

Here's a link, but there are many others as well:
www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/foodsafety/cheeseexpert/

as long as it's pasturised which philidelphia is. Most parmessan is too but i was tucking into one in my last regnancy and realised it said unpasturised on the pack!!!

Philadelphia is fine. Probably the most pasteurised, safe cheeses on the market. Crikey, think your midwife needs some cheese tuition! Best to check labelling on everything, I guess, as even quite a few cheddars are not pasteurised.

Philly is aboslutely fine. (Fortunately, as I was putting away 3-4 tubs a week at one point!) Parmesan is often unpasteurised, but the risk is really from unpasteurised soft cheeses, or mould-ripened cheeses, rather than the hard cheeses.

I love cheese and was so devestated when I found out I was pregnant just before Xmas as this means large cheese boards with crackers in my family and being denied Brie and Stilton was going to be a massive wrench. Unfortunately I have had horrific morning sickness and couldnt even get out of bed over Xmas! I am sure I have read somewhere that as long as the cheese is paturised or processed it is safe. All I can say is check the labels...I am becoming an obsessive label checker, the supermarket shop is taking twice as long! How did the human race ever survive before we knew what we could and couldnt eat when pregnant!?!?!

Thanks guys. brilliant link violeta. I bet French women don't give up cheese and pate in pregnancy,or greek women giving up feta!!

I also read somewhere that unpastuerised hard cheese (e.g. parmesan) is ok, just not unpasteurised soft cheeses. I also believe that blue cheese is okay if cooked (e.g. in a tart that has been baked) as the high temperature would kill any bacteria. Someone please correct me if I am wrong but this is how I satisfied my cheese cravings...

Feta is fine - it is pasteurised (at least the stuff I eat is!) and you are right my French friend never gave up her brie