The great soft cheese debate

[Anonymous]

Ok, this is my third child so you think I would understand by now--maybe when I had my first 8 years ago this wan't an issue, I can't seem to remember much about my 2008 pregnancy either.
So, for my own unscientific poll, for my own decision making only--what do you other Mom's to be think about the cheese?
Pastuerized ok? Avoid all soft, even cream cheese, cottage cheese? Eat it all in moderation and not worry about it?
I mean if anything can pretty much have listeria (I'm talking to you innocent looking cantaloupe) then what are you supposed do?

[Anonymous]

As long as it's pasturized, I (personally) think it's fine.

[Anonymous]

I also think pasturized=ok to eat.

[Anonymous]

Pasteurized is fine, and honestly a LOT of the cheese out there is pasteurized these days. (Go to TJs and you will be drowning in options!) Also be on the lookout for hard cheeses that aren't pasteurized---there are more of these out there now, too.

My approach is to follow general food safety rules across the board. Avoid things that look or smell funny even if they're ostensibly "safe." Avoid things that aren't pasteurized, but don't panic if you slip up. (I drank a whole jug of OJ in the first trimester before noticing as I washed the bottle for recycling that it wasn't pasteurized---no harm done!) Wash melons or other fruit with skins before cutting. Avoid things that have been sitting out or in deli cases (but I do freshly-cut luncheon meats or freshly-made salads without a second thought). I don't do raw fish or meat, but know people who are fine with this if they know the source. (And I'm personally fine with meat cooked medium or soft-cooked egg, both officially on the "no-no" list---again, if I know and trust the source or restaurant.)

There's a lot of over-zealousness in the "rules" to eliminate anything that might maybe be a risk of some sort. But I have to say that the only two times I've ever had food poisoning have been from things that would have passed muster---bad mushrooms and fish that had been cooked in both cases. You just never know, so the best you can do is to be smart about it. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I don't believe cream cheese was ever a no-no (it's not really a soft cheese since it doesn't mature like a soft cheese does).

I stayed away from soft cheeses but most cheeses in the US are pasterized so it really is not a problem. I'm just not a huge fan of soft cheese anyway unless it's something cooked on pizza so it wasn't an issue for me.

[Anonymous]

Hard cheeses, even unpasteurized, are fine. Listeria cannot survive the aging process.

Pasteurized soft cheeses are fine. Unpasteurized soft cheese is not commercially sold in the US. So, all cheese is on the table.

[Anonymous]

Some restaurants serve unpasteurized cheese so check with them to be sure.

[Anonymous]

I just check the label and make sure the cheese is made with pasteurized milk, which it is about 95% of the time. To the PP, I have seen unpasteurized soft cheese sold at Whole Foods, so it's out there. But it's labeled and easy enough to watch out for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard cheeses, even unpasteurized, are fine. Listeria cannot survive the aging process.

This used to be the common wisdom because listeria is uncommon in Europe, where most cheese is unpasteurized, but it's turned out not to be true. (It's part of what sparked the whole FDA outcry against raw milk cheeses last year.) Listeria, E. coli, and salmonella can all survive the aging process.

However, as with meat and eggs and sushi, it's more about the handling of the cheese---you can have contaminated pasteurized cheese (or other foods) if they haven't been properly handled, and a good raw milk cheese producer is going to be extremely careful about contamination (arguably even more so that makers of pasteurized cheeses, since they have a lot more to lose if something goes amiss).

[Anonymous]

What everyone else said. And just to quibble with your subject -- it shouldn't be a debate, unpasteurized cheese can cause listeria in pregnant women and should be avoided during pregnancy. Anyone who thinks that is just overreaction is risking their pregnancy. But as everyone said, most cheeses are pasteurized. Also don't worry about cantaloupe -- listeria in produce is really rare, it is much more common in processed meats (hot dogs, deli meats) and unpasteurized milk and cheese.

[Anonymous]

i agree... pasteurized is fine. i also think that heating unpasteurized cheeses and soft cheeses to steaming kills the bacteria, just like for lunch meats, although i couldn't guarantee the state the cheese will be in when you're done. i guess with brie this would work.

[Anonymous]

pasturized is fine. Oddle enough I have found more hard cheeses that are not pasturized than soft. For example trader joes has raw milk asiago and cheddar, but all their brie is pasturized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What everyone else said. And just to quibble with your subject -- it shouldn't be a debate, unpasteurized cheese can cause listeria in pregnant women and should be avoided during pregnancy. Anyone who thinks that is just overreaction is risking their pregnancy. But as everyone said, most cheeses are pasteurized. Also don't worry about cantaloupe -- listeria in produce is really rare, it is much more common in processed meats (hot dogs, deli meats) and unpasteurized milk and cheese.

Tell that to several co-workers, who don't want me to touch any soft cheese, pasteurized or not, with a 10-foot pole. No amount of explaining on my part (as I dig into some brie with grapes for lunch) will convince them I'm not risking my fetus' life!

[Anonymous]

Speaking of cheese, what's the thought on queso served at restaurants?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Unpasteurized soft cheese is not commercially sold in the US.

It is, but it's rare. Stopped at a tiny and awesome cheese shop on a PA highway at 12 weeks on the way home from a Pittsburgh wedding, and they had raw milk soft cheese. I believe the law on this varies by state.