feta cheese - allowed or not?

[katster37]

Oh no oh no oh no, I am 5 weeks pregnant and have just eaten a huge chunk of somerfield organic feta, having thought I had looked it up and that feta was ok, just not goat's cheese with a rind. I have just googled it again, and found amillion sites saying not to eat it and it can increase risk of miscarriage... OMG, can anyone help??

Apparently all feta in the UK is ok but feta overseas is not. Not sure why that is. I have been avoiding it anyway just to play it safe.

I am sure you will be fine. The chance of that piece of feta you ate having miscarriage-causing bacteria is very very small indeed.

On the list of foods you don't need to avoid.

www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/pregnancy/whenyrpregnant/

Don't google anything when you are pregnant...if you're worried phone / look it up on NHS Direct or ask your GP/midwife. The risk from some cheeses is that of contracting food poisoning. The odds of you doing this is very very small esp if manufactured in the UK. Even if you do food poisoning is very unlikely to harm your developing baby or pregnancy. The serious risks (listeria) are very very rare indeed - so much so that it would be a major news story.

I am pretty sure that feta is pastuerised anyway - does it say this on the packet?

Don't google anything when pregnant. This does more harm to your health than anything else.

Katster - I recommend just following the list on the Food Standards Agency website (musthaveaveryshortmemory has linked to it - feta is fine).

If you listen to what random people/google/well-meaning friends (and midwives IME) tell you then you will eat nothing but baked potatoes for the next 35 weeks...

I've never forgotten the day some yummy garlic prawns were taken from under my nose by someone insisting they were dangerous. . Well, they learned not to get between a pregnant woman and her dinner!

Thanks ladies. As ever, I am far too Google-happy. I had read on the babycentre website yesterday that Feta was fine, and for some reason decided to check it today, and found a barrage of DON'T EAT FETA websites... . You're right, I will stay away from Google for a while!