Yet again eating cheese when you are pregnant has hit the headlines.

“Sainsbury’s shopworker refuses to sell pregnant woman Cheddar cheese” *

But can you eat cheese when you are pregnant?  

The confusion seems to arise because there are so many different kinds of cheese and only some of them should be avoided when you are pregnant.

WHY?

Listeria can harm your unborn child. Some cheese, like soft cheeses and mould ripened cheeses are more prone than others to allow the growth of the listeria bacteria.  This is because they are moister and less acidic than other cheeses. Most healthy adults can fend off listeria infection. Pregnant women are more at risk. A pregnant woman herself is unlikely to be seriously harmed by listeriosis, but it could do serious harm to her unborn baby.

Can cheese be good in pregnancy?

Calcium and protein are essential in pregnancy and cheese is an important (and tasty) source of these. Some women report cheese cravings when they are pregnant. Is this because their bodies are craving this calcium and protein? The jury still seems to be out on this one!

Good Cheese and Bad Cheese

This is a list of which cheese pregnant women can eat without worrying and those which she should avoid. Of course every woman is different. If you ate cheese before you were pregnant, it makes sense that it will be OK once you are pregnant – if you follow the following:

Bad cheese in pregnancy

Mould ripened soft cheeses (like Brie, not like cream cheese or cottage cheese) Pasteurised or unpasteurised these type of cheeses should be avoided when pregnant

Including:

• Brie,
• Blue Brie,
• Cambozola,
• Camembert,
• Chaumes,
• Chèvre (goats cheese with a white rind),
• Pont L’Eveque,
• Taleggio,
• Vacherin-Fribourgeois

Blue veined cheese

Including:

• Blue Wensleydale,
• Cabreles,
• Danablu,
• Shropshire Blue,
• Danish Blue,
• Dolcelatte,
• Gorgonzola,
• Maytag blue cheese,
• Point Reyes blue,
• Roncal,
• Roquefort,
• Stilton,
• Tomme,
• Wensleydale (blue).

Soft, unpasteurised cheese,

• These include goat and sheep’s cheeses:

Good cheese in pregnancy

Hard cheese

Hard cheeses are generally considered safe to eat. The Food Standards Agency (www.eatwell.gov.uk) states that “listeria is present in very low numbers (less than 1 bacterium per gram of cheese) in these types of cheeses and they are therefore not considered a risk to health during pregnancy.”

This is an indication only – there are SO MANY HARD CHEESES! (in alphabetical order)

• Austrian smoked,
• Babybel,
• Caerphilly,
• Cheddar,
• Cheshire,
• Derby,
• Double Gloucester,
• Edam, Emmental,
• English goat’s cheddar,
• Feta, (in the UK, Feta is deemed safe to eat when pregnant, but in the US, pregnant women are advised to avoid it)
• Gouda,
• Gruyere,
• Halloumi,
• Havarti,
• Jarlsberg,
• Lancashire,
• Paneer,
• Parmesan,
• Red Leicester.

Soft and processed cheeses:

• boursin,
• cheese spread (also called processed cheese),
• cottage cheese,
• cream cheese,
• feta,
• goat’s cheese without a white rind,
• mascarpone,
• mozzarella,
• Philadelphia,
• Quark,
• ricotta.

Yoghurts

• all varieties including natural, flavoured and biologically active,
• probiotic drinks,
• fromage frais,
• soured cream
• crème fraîche

As with any other dairy food, keep it the fridge and eat it within the use by date.

What to Eat When You’re Pregnant: Including the A-Z of What’s Safe and What’s Not

Other related articles

What food and drink should I avoid when pregnant?

* The Sainsbury’s article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218197