Parmesan - to eat or not....

[dcb]

Can I???? It will be the thing I miss most
x

I think so. I think it's just mouldy cheese that you shouldn't eat. I certainly ate parmesan. Don't take just my word for it though.

Congratulations, by the way.

Yes, it's a hard cheese, I ate loads!

If you google it some proper guidelines will come up though.

Thanks! - everyone on here is so lovely - thanks for the congrats [about to cry emoticon]! xxx

definitely

Yep, I remember thrashing this out about two months ago. It's a hard cheese that's aged for a long time, and quite dry, so not a contender for listeria.

Ignore the packets at Asda as well, they label it not suitable for pregnant women (which freaked me out), but on the government website it specifically says parmesan is OK.

If I wasn't so frakkin tired I'd complain to Asda for scaring me off parmesan for a while!

That's awfully misleading, Yank. I'd have been devastated. Did it have that ridiculous symbol that they put on booze - the pregnant woman in the middle of a circle with a line through her? Bloke used to wave beer cans at me and say I wasn't allowed near him ebcause the symbol said so. (I am so lucky...)

Had a look at the food standards agency website and it says yes - hooray - thanks everyone x

FF, I know!! I was so mad about it, particularly because I came on MN and made an arse of myself saying it wasn't allowed!

Stupid fecking Asda.

I noticed my Grana Padano was actually made from unpasteurised milk the other day so didn't eat it. I think parmesan is usually made from pasteurised milk but sometimes (if really rustic) can be unpasteurised. Same with mozarella I have found.

Completely your decision but I am attempting to avoid eating pasteurised cheese etc altough obviously normally I wouldn't even think twice!

A waitress in Pizza Express wouldn't let me have any. Theirs isn't pasturised.

How thoughtful/annoying depending on how you look at it!

Annoying but I pretended to be grateful.

That's what I would have done!

I don't think it matters if it hasn't been pasteurised. the fact that it's hard overrides that, afaik.

Parmesan is rarely pasteurised but it's fine to eat as it is hard. The waitress in Pizza Express is talking out of her arse. Check out www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/pregnancy/whenyrpregnant/ under 'foods you don't need to avoid'. Also www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/may/29/health.medicineandhealth for an explanation of why hard cheese is ok.

Thanks MadamAnt & HustHave, I should have known better than to listen to a 12 year old waitress. Parmesan back on the shopping list.