Cheese Question

[persil]

I am pregnant and desperately missing goats and soft cheese! Have just noticed on a supermarket website that some goats cheese and camembert are made with pasteurised milk - does this mean that it is safe to eat when pregnant?

Apologies if this is an obvious question but am getting a little desperate

If it pasteurised then I would expect that you can eat it. That is the only thing that stops you being able to eat it any other time whilst pg.

I thought it was just the mouldy looking cheese you couldn't eat...also the cheese with the blue veins thru it.

Apparently you CANNOT eat cheese with a mouldy rind even if it is pasteurised... such as brie or camembret. It really depends on how conservative you are! I ate lots of pasteurised brie (never the rind of course) before I found out...

unpasteurised soft cheese or mould ripened cheese is not recommended. Stick to the bog standard pasteurised brie etc. and lay off the brei de meaux I'm sure it's fine. (used to work in a cheese shop, was asked this a lot).I've been craving and eating lots of brie and apple sandwiches lately.

lol at the CANNOT. I hope you're not one of those people who shout at pregnant ladies eating seafood in restaurants! Someone did this to me once because I was eating tuna, I nearly choked!

Yes as long as its pasteurised you are fine - yummy Goats cheese.....mmm mmm

Great now I can have some cheese with my glass of wine!!!

Angel is absolutely right! - you should not eat mould-ripened cheese even if made with pasteurised milk, this includes brie, camembert. Whoops at the lady who used to work in the cheese shop...!

From Food Standards Agency website:
Why can't you eat runny cheeses when you're pregnant?

In order to avoid the risk of listeriosis pregnant women are advised to avoid eating ripened soft cheeses of the Brie, Camembert and blue-veined types, whether pasteurised or unpasteurised.

This is because ripened soft cheeses are less acidic and contain more moisture than hard cheeses, and are therefore more inclined to allow growth of undesirable bacteria such as Listeria, which may harm your unborn child.

You can enjoy hard cheeses such as Cheddar and Cheshire. Cottage cheese, processed cheese and cheese spreads can all be safely eaten during pregnancy.

Though depends if you are a stickler for the rules or not. The risk is marginal but if you want to follow the guidance, don't eat it.

I used to work in a shop selling farmhouse cheese and the advice we gave was that outlined by slinkymalinky.

soft and mould ripened cheese, and blues were not safe, whether pasteurised or un-pasteurised, due to the risk of listeria.

hard cheeses are safe regardless, ie cheddar, parmesan, leicester etc.

In addition, we also advised caution with sheeps milk and goats milk cheeses as they can be carriers of toxoplasmosis.

mozzarella and cottage cheeses are OK as far as I know.

If the cheese is cooked, this is also OK, so blue cheese in a quiche or soup, or toasted brie is just fine as cooking destroys the bacteria.

Saying that, in the four years I worked there we only ever had one case of a soft cheese being infected with listeria.

Like everything else in pregnancy, it;s about weighing up the risks and deciding whether or not you are prepared to take that risk.

whoops at the lady- I have a posting name . i did point out that it's not recommended to eat mould ripened cheese, if you read my post.Most people in eurpoe would disagree. These are recommendations, not commands, that was the point I was making. The risks with fresh pasteurised brie are ridiculously small.

Ok maybe I will stick to Dairylea....

Oh, I went to a seminar with a big luncg yesterday and stood roudn the cheese platter gazing at it longingly. At least I has two other pg ladies to keep me company!

I have been eating loads of pasteurised camembert and mozarella. Couldn't stop myself and I don't like yogurt so needed the calcium (that'smy excuse anyway!)