Okay to have soft, pasteurized cheese?

mss_baby

First-time mom here: I would love to have a mould-ripened (pasteurized, non-imported) cheese. Okay/not okay? I would wait and call my doctor's office tomorrow, but if I'd be so happy to have a more definitive answer today. Thanks all!

klj0228

@mss_baby welcome to the board. you should be able to eat the cheese since it’s pasteurized. Just for future reference you can always post questions like these in the questions and/or randoms board. This group of ladies can be a fantastic resource! 

mss_baby

Thanks! I will check those out. Looking forward to learning more from this community. 

BostonBaby1

mss_baby said:

First-time mom here: I would love to have a mould-ripened (pasteurized, non-imported) cheese. Okay/not okay? I would wait and call my doctor's office tomorrow, but if I'd be so happy to have a more definitive answer today. Thanks all!

We cannot give you or anyone a “more definitive” answer than your OB can provide. 

DanyTargaryen

My OB ok's soft cheeses as long as they're pasteurized. I've been enjoying salads with gorgonzola on them for lunch all week.

MandyMost

Unpasteurized cheese is not recommended during pregnancy because of the risk of Listeria bacteria that can cause an illness called Listeriosis. It makes a person very sick, but can be cured easily with antibiotics. Pregnant women should be extra cautious because it's a bacteria that can cross the placenta and have the potential for miscarriage or early labor. 

Listeria is killed by pasteurization and cooking. There is a chance that contamination may occur in ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs and deli meats because contamination may occur after cooking and before packaging Listeria is most commonly found in raw and processed foods: 

• Ready-to-eat deli meats and hot dogs
• Refrigerated pâtés or meat spreads
• Unpasteurized (raw) milk and dairy products
• Soft cheese made with unpasteurized milk, such as queso fresco, Feta, Brie, Camembert
• Refrigerated smoked seafood
• Raw sprouts

Some sources say that even pasteurized soft cheeses can contain a risk if they were contaminated during the making/packaging after pasteurizing process, but the CDC does not see that as a very high risk at all, and doesn't recommend avoiding pasteurized soft cheeses. 

Here's a good link from the CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/prevention.html 

adirat

@MandyMost All good points. Something else to add, though, is that the big listeria outbreaks recently have almost all been in produce -- cantaloupe, salad mixes, frozen veggies. I recommend getting on the CDC or FDA's email list for outbreaks so you hear about them. The traditional advice of "avoid soft cheeses and lunch meat" is pretty far from what we're living with now, and "avoid fruits and vegetables" obviously is not practical either...

nackie

@adirat I read something a while back that was saying in France they shame pregnant women who eat salads that same way we do towards pregnant women drinking in America. No idea if it’s actually true, but considering all the leafy green outbreaks I could see it making sense.  Not that anyone should be shamed for eating anything. 

adirat

@nackie I know that's true in Italy...my in-laws are Italian, and in Italy the advice is to eat lots of cold cuts (because cured pork is high in iron, which you need during pregnancy) and avoid salad.

stothi

I just eat whatever this pregnancy, but I would definitely eat a pasteurized cheese.

Also, I can't see this thread without thinking this:
https://goo.gl/images/jbkWcd